Synthesis of multilayered and multicomponent titanium compounds using a magnetized sheet plasma source
Abstract
Multilayered and multicomponent titanium compounds containing carbon and nitrogen were deposited on stainless steel substrates via magnetron sputtering in a magnetized sheet plasma source. Successive layers of Ti, Ti-N, Ti-C-N, and Ti-C were deposited continuously by sputtering a Ti target with argon plasma, nitriding with N2:Ar plasma, and carbonitriding/carbiding with C2H2:N2:Ar, respectively. The elemental compositions of each layer were shown through energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The hardness of the Ti/Ti-N/Ti-C-N/Ti-C coating is found to be around 29 GPa via Vicker’s microhardness test. This multilayered coating is found to be much harder than Ti/Ti-N (24.83 GPa), Ti/Ti-C-N (23.4 GPa), Ti/Ti-C (24.83 GPa), and Ti/Ti-N/Ti-C-N (24.43) coatings on stainless steel. Aside from having a single route and continuous deposition scheme, the magnetized sheet plasma source does not involve any substrate heating in the synthesis of thin films unlike other conventional coating systems.