Abstract
TiN films are prepared on low carbon steel with a titanium interlayer by reactive RF planar magnetron sputtering. The titanium interlayer is sputtered in pure argon before coating TiN. Various argon/nitrogen ratios and substrate temperatures are employed during sputtering TiN. The role of Ti interlayer in the deposited TiN/Ti/Fe system is investigated and the effects of the processing variables on the mechanical properties of the deposited TiN films are evaluated. A semi-quantitative approach is employed to modify the concentrations measured in the AES depth profile and the quantities of oxygen and carbon due to outgassing are evaluated. The hardness of TiN coating reaches HK1500 at an applied load of 1 gf where the substrate effect is insignificant. It is observed that the adhesion measurement is affected by the structural orientation of the deposited TiN films. For films with strong preferred orientation (111), the failure occurs at the coating/substrate interface. However, those with random polycrystalline structure exhibit good adhesion. © 1992.