MECHANICAL AND TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF ION-BEAM-ENHANCED-DEPOSITION TIN THIN-FILMS

Hard titanium nitride thin films were deposited using the ion-beam-enh anced deposition (IBED) technique. The deposition process involves spu ttering the titanium target whilst using an N+ ion beam to bombard the film. The deposition parameters were changed by varying the ion bomba rdment energies and bombardment procedures. The microstructure and mic rohardness of the thin films were studied. The tribological behavior o f the films was evaluated using the block-on-ring sliding wear test. T he bonding strengths of the films were evaluated by a new method modif ied from the rolling-contact fatigue test. Scanning electron microscop y (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed tha t the grain size increased with increasing bombardment energy. X-ray d iffraction (XRD) results indicated that when the bombardment energy in creased from 10 to 40 keV, the preferred orientation was changed from (111) to (200). The results showed that both the hardness and the wear resistance of the film decreased with an increase in bombardment ener gy. The effect of ion bombardment procedures on the bonding strength o f the thin films is discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All righ ts reserved.