Study Of Zr-Nb-N And Re-B-Ti-N Nanocomposite Coatings Prepared By Multi-target Magnetron Co-sputtering

This paper reported synthesis of Zr-Nb-N and Re-B-Ti-N nanocomposite coatings on Si(100) by multi-target co-sputtering system. Crystal structure of the coatings was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) were employed to test chemical composition and binding energy of the coatings. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposite coatings including hardness, elastic modulus and adhesion were measured by profiler and Nano Indenter XP system. Different process parameters of sputtering power, substrate bias voltages, substrate temperatures and work pressure were changed during the deposition of the coatings. The nanocomposite coatings with high hardness and elastic modulus, good residual stress and adhesion can be synthetized by controlling parameters during deposition.Zr-Nb-N nanocomposite coatings were synthesized on Si(100) substrates by Multi-target Magnetron Co-sputtering. Different process parameters of sputtering power, substrate bias voltages, substrate temperatures and work pressure were changed during the deposition of the coatings. XRD exhibited face-centered cubic (Zr,Nb)N solid solution mixed structure in the different process parameters. XPS exhibited chemical bond was basically the same in the different process parameters. The mechanical properties of the coatings in the different parameters as follows:The sputtering power parameters:The maximum hardness was up to36GPa and elastic modulus was close to425GPa at the30W of Zr power and120W of NbN power. The Zr, Nb and N elemental composition ratio for maximum hardness and modulus coating is0.31:1.45:1by EDS analysis. The coating has also good residual stress and adhesion at this condition.The substrate bias voltages parameters:The maximum hardness and modulus are up to36GPa and425GPa respectively when bias is-80V to-100V. The coating has also good residual stress and adhesion at this condition.The substrate temperatures parameters:The maximum hardness and modulus are up to34GPa and440GPa respectively between300and400℃. The coating has also good residual stress and adhesion at this condition.The work pressure parameters:The maximum hardness is up to34GPa at1.6Pa. The coating has also good residual stress and adhesion at this condition.Nanocomposite Re-B-Ti-N coatings were prepared using multi-target co-sputtering system at different sputtering power. The TiN(111) and TiN(200) peaks appear in XRD patterns. The ReB2is amorphous phase. The sp3-BN peak appears in the XPS spectra when sputtering power of TiN is70W. The sp3-BN peak plays the positive role in hardness increase. The maximum hardness was up to26GPa and elastic modulus was up to337GPa at the30W of ReB2power and70W of TiN power. The coating has also good residual stress at this condition.All results above demonstrated that Zr-Nb-N and Re-B-Ti-N nanocomposite coatings with high hardness and elastic modulus, good residual stress and adhesion can be synthetized by multi-target co-sputtering system with optimized parameters. These nanocomposite coatings appeared to be a promising composite coating system suitable for engineering applications.