Age hardening of PACVD TiBN thin films

摘要

This study demonstrates that plasma assisted chemical vapor deposited TiBN films, containing 17.4 at.% B, show a supersaturated NaCl-structured solid solution where B substitutes N. During annealing, hexagonal close-packed TiB2 precipitates form across B-rich domains, causing an increase in hardness at elevated temperatures. The findings are corroborated by ab initio calculations and additional investigations on TiN films. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc.