The Structure and Wear Properties of High Performance CrN-based Ternary Films

The CrN, CrAlN and CrSiN films were deposited using medium frequency magnetron sputtering. The microstructure and the wear properties of the films were investigated. It was found that the XRD peaks of the CrAlN and CrSiN films were similar to that of the CrN coatings and could be well indexed using the cubic NaCl-type structure. The crystallography structure of only single-phase fcc CrAlN solid solution, without other separated phase structure was detected. While the CrSiN films had a nanocomposite structure consisting of nano-crystalline CrN in amorphous Si3N4 matrix. The CrAlN and CrSiN film had much smaller grain size and denser structure compared with CrN films. The as-deposited ternary films also showed higher hardness than the CrN film deposited under similar conditions. The ternary films synthesized at this experimental conditions had excellent wear resistance property than that of the CrN film and this enhancement could be attributed to the small grain size, compacted or/ nanocomposite structure, high hardness and formation of distortion in wear process avoiding the fracture of the films.