MECHANICAL AND TRIBOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF DC MAGNETRON-SPUTTERED TANTALUM NITRIDE THIN-FILMS

Tantalum nitride (TaxN1-x) coatings were deposited onto high-speed ste el using reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Five different combinations of magnetron power and nitrogen flow were used. Phase analysis (XRD) revealed that the phase composition changes with increasing N-2 flow f rom a mixture of Ta and Ta2N to single phase Ta2N. This result was sup ported by GDOES analysis of the chemical composition. The coating hard ness and residual stress were both found to increase with the amount o f Ta2N in the coatings. In scratch testing, it was not possible to pro voke adhesive failures at loads up to 100 N. Finally, the coating abra sion resistance was very high for all specimens and found to increase with the amount of Ta,N in the coatings. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A .