Effect of oxygen incorporation on structural and properties of Ti-Si-N nanocomposite coatings deposited by reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering

Journal Article · Sat Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 2006 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.2202128· OSTI ID:20777355

Ding, X Z; Zeng, X T; Liu, Y C; Zhao, L R ^[1]

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1. Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 638075 (Singapore)

Ti-Si-N-O nanocomposite coatings with different contents of oxygen were deposited by a combined dc/rf reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering process in an Ar+N{sub 2}+O{sub 2} mixture atmosphere. The composition, structure, mechanical, and tribological properties of the as-deposited coatings were analyzed by energy dispersive analysis of x-rays, x-ray diffraction (XRD), nanoindentation, and pin-on-disk tribometer experiments, respectively. It was found that in the range of lower oxygen content with atomic ratio of O/N{<=}0.72, the tribological properties of the Ti-Si-N-O coatings are evidently improved, in comparison with the coating without oxygen incorporation. At O/N=0.72, the friction coefficient and wear rate of the as-deposited coatings are reduced to 20% and 45%, respectively. Meanwhile, however, their hardness was not reduced, but, on the contrary, slightly increased. With increasing oxygen content further to O/N{>=}0.72, coating hardness decreased significantly. The friction coefficient of the as-deposited coatings decreased monotonously with the increase of oxygen content in the whole composition range investigated. The wear rate of the coatings exhibited a minimum value at around O/N=0.72. In the lower range of O/N, wear rate decreased significantly due to the lubricant effect of oxygen incorporation, while in the higher range of O/N, wear rate increased gradually due to the weakening of coating hardness. XRD patterns revealed that the as-deposited coatings were mainly crystallized in cubic TiN phase, accompanied with minority of rutile structure titania in the case of higher oxygen incorporation.

• OSTI ID: 20777355
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Journal Name: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 24; ISSN 1553-1813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COATINGS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
FRICTION
HARDNESS
MAGNETRONS
MIXTURES
NANOSTRUCTURES
OXYGEN
RUTILE
SPUTTERING
SURFACE COATING
TITANIUM OXIDES
WEAR
WEAR RESISTANCE
X RADIATION
X-RAY DIFFRACTION