THE PROPERTIES OF TITANIUM NITRIDE PREPARED BY DYNAMIC ION MIXING

Titanium nitride films are prepared by Ti evaporation with simultaneou s nitrogen ion beam irradiation on a martensitic stainless steel. In t his study, the influences of the phase compositions, interplanar spaci ngs of the lattice planes and crystal orientation on microhardness are investigated in relation to process parameters such as ion energy, io n current, substrate temperature, deposition rate and nitrogen pressur e. It is recognized that the interplanar spacings of preferred lattice planes are related to the N/Ti ratios. The results show that the chan ge in microhardness of titanium nitride films is dependent on the inte rplanar spacings of these planes.