A Combined X-Ray Photoelectron/Auger Electron Spectroscopy/glancing Angle X-Ray Diffractiion/Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Investigation of TiBxNy Coatings.

Ti-B-N coatings with a three phase TiB2+TiN+BN composition have been deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. XPS/AES/GAXRD and EXAFS have been employed to characterise the films and understand the relation between chemical composition and microstructure. The Ti based phases are dominated by the presence of nanocrystalline TiB2, the grain size of which decreases to an unmeasurably low value with increasing N content. Evidence of TiB2, TiN and BN bonding is found in the XPS spectra and the phase composition has been found to be in good agreement with that predicted by the phase diagram. The BN phase present is shown by XPS and AES to be h-BN.JRC.(IAM)-Institute For Advanced Material