CHARACTERIZATION OF INTERFACES BETWEEN TIN OR HARD CARBON COATING ANDSUBSTRATE BY SIMS

The composition of the interface has an effect on the adhesion between substrate and coating and on the corrosion properties of the coating. In this work, the interfaces between (Ti, Al)N and hard carbon coatin gs and the substrates were studied using secondary ion mass spectromet ry (SIMS). By using SIMS depth profiling, the impurities on the substr ate were analyzed in order to study their influence on the characteris tics of the coating and the coating adhesion. Different intermediate l ayers used to improve the adhesion between the hard carbon film and th e substrate were also studied by depth profiling.