Microstructure and Properties of the Cr-Si-N Coatings Deposited by Combining High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) and Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering

doi:10.1007/s40195-017-0609-0

Abstract

Abstract:

The Cr-Si-N coatings were prepared by combining system of high-power impulse magnetron sputtering and pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. The Si content in the coating was adjusted by changing the sputtering power of the Si target. By virtue of electron-probe microanalysis, X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy, the influence of the Si content on the coating composition, phase constituents, deposition rate, surface morphology and microstructure was investigated systematically. In addition, the change rules of micro-hardness, internal stress, adhesion, friction coefficient and wear rate with increasing Si content were also obtained. In this work, the precipitation of silicon in the coating was found. With increasing Si content, the coating microstructure gradually evolved from continuous columnar to discontinuous columnar and quasi-equiaxed crystals; accordingly, the coating inner stress first declined sharply and then kept almost constant. Both the coating hardness and the friction coefficient have the same change tendency with the increase of the Si content, namely increasing at first and then decreasing. The Cr-Si-N coating presented the highest hardness and average friction coefficient for an Si content of about 9.7 at.%, but the wear resistance decreased slightly due to the high brittleness. The above phenomenon was attributed to a microstructural evolution of the Cr-Si-N coatings induced by the silicon addition.

Key words: Cr-Si-N coating, High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering, Mechanical property, Friction coefficient

Tie-Gang Wang, Yu Dong, Belachew Abera Gebrekidan, Yan-Mei Liu, Qi-Xiang Fan, Kwang Ho Kim. Microstructure and Properties of the Cr-Si-N Coatings Deposited by Combining High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) and Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2017, 30(7): 688-696.

Figures/Tables 13

Table 1 Detailed deposition parameters for the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings prepared by co-sputtering technique

Parameters	Value
Base pressure (Pa)	3.0 × 10^-3
Working pressure (Pa)	7.0 × 10^-1
Deposition temperature (°C)	300
HiPIMS average power/Cr target (kW)	1.0
Pulsed DC power/Si target (kW)	0, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0
N₂/Ar gas flow ratio (Sccm)	20:40
Substrate rotation speed (rpm)	20
Film thickness (μm)	~3.5
Distance between the target and substrate (mm)	70

Fig. 1 Chemical composition (obtained by EPMA) of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings as a function of Si sputtering power

Fig. 2 X-ray diffraction patterns of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents

Fig. 3 Dependence of deposition rate of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings on the Si content

Fig. 4 Typical surface morphologies of the CrN coating and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents, a 0, b 9.7 at.%, c 11.4 at.%

Fig. 5 Typical fractured cross-sectional SEM images of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents: a 0, b 9.7 at.%, c 11.4 at.%

Fig. 6 Hardness variation of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents

Fig. 7 Internal stress variations of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents

Fig. 8 Critical load for the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents

Fig. 9 Average friction coefficient of the CrN and Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents

Fig. 10 Typical friction coefficient-sliding time curve of the Cr-Si-N coating with the Si content of 9.7 at.%

Fig. 11 Wear rate of the Cr-Si-N coatings with different Si contents

Fig. 12 Typical worn morphology of the Cr-Si-N coating with the Si content of 9.7 at.%

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