Effect of N2 flow rate of Dual-stage High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering on the Microstructure and Properties of TiN coatings

Abstract:

A new dual-stage high power pulsed magnetron sputtering technology is proposed. The TiN coating was prepared by reasonably adjusting the parameters of the two-stage pulsed electric field under different N2 flow conditions, and its microstructure and performance were analyzed. The results showed that as the N2 flow rate gradually increased from 10 to 40 sccm, the preferred orientation of the TiN coating gradually changed from (111) to (220) crystal plane. The surface morphology of the coating changed from a multi-directional angular cone structure to a tightly combined round-cell structure. The coatings all present the growth mode of columnar crystals and the average crystal grain size is nanometers. When the N2 flow rate is 20sccm, the N/Ti atomic ratio of the coating is closest to the standard value of 1, and the coating structure is the densest and has the best mechanical properties and film-base bonding properties. At the same time, the use of new dual-stage high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering process can effectively improve the technical shortcomings of traditional high-power pulsed magnetron sputtering with a low average deposition rate. When the N2 flow rate is 20sccm, it can reach 46.35nm/min.