Synthesis and characterization of Cr-B-N coatings deposited by reactive arc evaporation
Date
2008Author
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Neidhardt, J.
Rebholz, Claus
Baker, M. A.
O'Sullivan, M.
Reiter, A. E.
Gunnaes, A. E.
Giannakopoulos, K.
Mitterer, C.
Source
Journal of Materials ResearchVolume
23Pages
3048-3055Google Scholar check
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Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Nanocomposite Cr-B-N coatings were deposited from CrB0.2 compound targets by reactive arc evaporation using an Ar/N2 discharge at 500 °C and -20 V substrate bias. Elastic recoil detection (ERDA), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) were used to study the effect of the N2 partial pressure on composition and microstructure of the coatings. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the coating morphology changes from a glassy to a columnar structure with increasing N, partial pressure, which coincides with the transition from an amorphous to a crystalline growth mode. The saturation of N content in the coating confirms the formation of a thermodynamically stable CrN-BN dual-phase structure at higher N2 fractions, exhibiting a maximum in hardness of approximately 29 GPa. © 2008 Materials Research Society.