COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF MECHANICAL AND STRUCTURAL-PROPERTIES OF CRN FILMS DEPOSITED BY DC MAGNETRON SPUTTERING AND VACUUM-ARC EVAPORATION

The aim of this work is the investigation of the growth mechanisms of CrN films deposited by magnetron sputtering and vacuum are evaporation . On the one hand, the influence of the substrate temperature (T-s) an d the substrate bias voltage (U-B) on the formation of the Cr-N phases and oil structural parameters, i.e. texture and grain size, has been studied. On the other hand, microhardness and wear resistance of the f ilms have been determined. Generally, the microhardness of the coating s deposited by are evaporation is significantly greater than that of t he sputtered films. Contrariwise, the wear resistance of are evaporate d films is not much different from that of the sputtered films. We hav e also measured the macroscopic film stress in dependence on U-B at a given T-s using the method of sample bending. This stress evolution is rather similar for both deposition techniques.