Internal growth parameters - a suitable basis for comparison of PVD coatings

Thin hard coatings deposited by physical vapour deposition (-PVD) technique s are widely used to reduce wear and corrosion nf tools and engineering com ponents Corresponding to the broad range of different modifications of PVD methods, the broad range of different modifications of PVD methods, results published on the interrelationships between process parameters and resulti ng microstructure and properties are not always comparable since system-dep ending process parameters are often used to describe the growth conditions. System-independent growth parameters like particle energy or flux density may serve as a basis for the comparison of coatings deposited employing dif ferent deposition machines and techniques. The aim of this work is to verif y the concept of system-independent parameters using different sputtering s ystems and the coating systems TiN and TiB2.