Characterization of TiCN thin films deposited by Dc-Pulsed PACVD using methane precursor

Abstract

Titanium carbonitride (TiCN) thin films were deposited on hot-work steel (DIN 1.2606) by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) and the influence of different CH4/ (CH4+N2) gas flow ratio, on the layer mechanical properties, were investigated. SEM studies indicated that the growth rate is decreased by increasing the CH4/ (CH4+N2) gas flow ratio. It was found that the Ti(C, N) layers have different stoichiometry, TiC30N70 and TiC70N30 for 0.5 and 0.66 gas flow ratio. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to evaluate the microstructures as well as the morphological property such as roughness. It was also revealed that by increasing the flow ratio, the grain size of the TiCN thin films is increased. A hardness of 2180 HV0.05 was obtained when the layer was fabricated at the lower flow ratios.

Keywords

• PACVD
• TiCN
• tribology
• thin film