Effect of Al content on the hardness and thermal stability study of AlTiN and AlTiBN coatings deposited by HiPIMS

The microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal stability of AlxTi1 xN and Al1Ti1-xBN coatings grown by reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) have been analyzed as a function of Al/(Al + Ti) ratio (x) between 0.5 and 0.8. The coatings were predominantly formed by a face-cen...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Mendez, A., Monclús, M.A., Santiago, J.A., Fernández-Martínez, Iván, Rojas, T. Cristina, García-Molleja, J., Avella, M., Dams, N., Panizo-Laiz, M., Molina-Aldareguia, Jon
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/247586
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/247586
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Coatings
Nitride
Nanocomposite
High temperature
Hardness
HiPIMs
Description
Summary:The microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal stability of AlxTi1 xN and Al1Ti1-xBN coatings grown by reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) have been analyzed as a function of Al/(Al + Ti) ratio (x) between 0.5 and 0.8. The coatings were predominantly formed by a face-centered cubic Ti(Al)N crystalline phase, both with and without B, even for x ratios as high as 0.6, which is higher than the ratio typically encountered for AlxTi1 xN coatings deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. B doping, in combination with the highly energetic deposition conditions offered by HiPIMS, results in the suppression of the columnar grain morphology typically encountered in AlxTi1 xN coatings. On the contrary, the AlxTi1 xBN coatings grown by HiPIMS present a dense nanocomposite type microstructure, formed by nanocrystalline Ti(Al) N domains and amorphous regions composed of Ti(Al)B2 and BN. As a result, high-Al content (x ≈ 0.6) AlxTi1 xBN coatings grown by HiPIMS offer higher hardness, elasticity and fracture toughness than AlxTi1 xN coatings. Moreover, the thermal stability and the hot hardness are substantially enhanced, delaying the onset of formation of the detrimental hexagonal AlN phase from 850 ◦C in the case of Al0.6Ti0.4N, to 1000 ◦C in the case of Al0.6Ti0.4BN.

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