Or. Monteiro et al., SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THIN-FILMS OF WCX, PRODUCED BY MIXING W-PLASMA AND C-PLASMA STREAMS, Surface & coatings technology, 94-5(1-3), 1997, pp. 220-225
WCx coatings have been synthesized by filtered cathodic are deposition
at room temperature. Repetitively pulsed W and C plasma streams were
mixed, and the duration of the pulse of each stream was used to vary t
he film composition. The energy of the incident ions was controlled by
applying a pulsed bias voltage at the substrate, and was used for enh
ancing the adhesion as well as for modifying the microstructure of the
film. The films with low W content (less than 20 at.%) consisted of r
egions of amorphous WC dispersed in an amorphous carbon matrix, At hig
her Ur content, nano-crystalline WC was observed. internal stresses in
the as deposited films ranged between 500 and 4500 MPa, depending on
the W content and the applied bias voltage. Film hardness varied betwe
en 63 GPa and 30 GPa, and strongly depended uh the W content and also
on the applied bias voltage. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.