HOMOGENEITY OF PVD HARD COATINGS DEPOSITED ON 3D PARTS

Hard coatings on the base of transition metal compounds (e.g. nitrides , carbides) are increasingly used in many fields of modern technology. Besides compounds with one metallic component (e.g. TiN, CrN) more an d more multicomponent films are studied and used in application. The m ajor problem in PVD coating of larger areas and on three-dimensional p arts is to achieve depositions of homogeneous composition. The present paper discusses the different single and multisource PVD deposition t echniques. Examples are given for the film properties on 3D parts and for multicomponent films deposited using different sources. Recent mod el calculations allow the prediction of local growth rates on the subs trate and the in-depth distribution of the elemental concentration.