Effect of magnetron discharge power and N<inf>2</inf> flow rate for preparation of TiCrN thin film

Titanium Chromium Nitride (TiCrN) multilayer coatings on cutting tools, press molds and dies can be used to prolong their life cycle because of their superior corrosion and oxidation resistance. We investigated on three effecting conditions, which are the magnetron discharging powers of Ti, Cr targets and N2 flow rate. TiCrN multilayer coatings were prepared by dual DC magnetron sputtering, and their crystallography and microstructure were investigated. The crystalline structures were obtained the cubic and mixed phase of Ti 0.5Cr0.5N with the mean lattice parameters of a = b = c = 4.238 Å and TiCrN2 with mean lattice parameters of a = b = c = 4.1835 Å for the condition of discharging powers on Ti and Cr target, respectively. However, the N2 flow rate condition, the orthorhombic oriented structure had been added to the structure with the mean lattice parameters of a = 2.962 Å, b = 4.130 Å and c = 2.875 Å. The morphology of TiCrN thin films show mean gain size ∼ 100-200 nm, and the thickness of ∼1μm Cr-layer, ∼0.5 μm CrN-layer and ∼2 μm TiCrN-layer. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd