Influence Of Magnetron Sputtering Process Parameters -N2 Flow Rate

Influence of magnetron sputtering process parameters -N2 flow rate

The chemical composition, microstructure and various properties of the (Cr,Ti,Al) N quaternary coating can be adjusted by changing the N2 flow rate. The researchers found that with the increase of N2 flow, the N content and nitride hard phase content of (Cr,Ti,Al) N coating will also increase, and the hardness, elastic modulus, bearing capacity and film-base binding force of the coating will also increase accordingly, which can effectively reduce the surface roughness, friction factor and wear rate of the coating. Significantly improve the wear resistance of the coating [57-58]. However, with the further increase of N2 flow, the sputtering pressure increases, the average free path of ions decreases, and the energy loss of ions increases, which will affect the crystallization quality and film formation structure of the coating, resulting in the decrease of coating hardness [59]. The researchers also found that with the increase of N2 flow, the deposition rate of (Cr,Ti,Al) N quaternary coatings showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing [60]. This is because increasing the flow rate of N2 will increase the reaction degree of target particles with N2, and thus increase the deposition rate of the coating. However, the increase of N2 flow rate will also increase the sputtering pressure, and the scattering effect of particle beam (including sputtering particles bombarding the target and deposited particles on the film-forming surface) will increase, resulting in a decrease in the number of deposited particles reaching the substrate surface per unit time, so the coating deposition rate will also show a downward trend. In addition, too high N2 partial pressure will lead to the formation of more nitride phases on the surface of the target, which will increase the degree of target poisoning, which will also affect the deposition rate of the coating.

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