Effect of Nitrogen-Containing Plasma on Adherence, Friction, and Wear of Radiofrequency-Sputtered Titanium Carbide Coatings

摘要

Friction and wear experiments on 440C steel surfaces that had been rf sputtered with titanium carbide when a small percentage of nitrogen was added to the plasma were conducted. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze the resultant coatings. Results indicate that the small partial pressure of nitrogen (~0.5 percent) markedly improves the adherence, friction, and wear properties when compared with coatings applied to sputter-etched surfaces, oxidized surfaces, or in the presence of a small oxygen partial pressure. The improvements are related to the formation of an interface containing a mixture of the nitrides of titanium and iron, which are harder than their corresponding oxides.