Thin Solid Films, Vol.407, No.1-2, 38-44, 2002
Effects of chlorine on tribological properties of TiN films prepared by pulsed d.c. plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition
TiN films; with chlorine content of 1.2-4.9 at.% were prepared on high-speed tool steel substrates at temperatures of 753, 823 and 873 K by pulsed d.c. plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using a mass-production-type apparatus. The films were formed by changing the deposition temperatures while keeping other parameters constant. We studied the effects of chlorine on structural and tribological properties of the films. The chlorine content in the Films decreased with increasing deposition temperature. The hardness of the films was in the range of 2070-2360 Hv (0.05 N). Therefore, the effect of chlorine content within this range on the film hardness was small. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analyses showed that the half-value width of the diffraction lines for the films decreased with increasing deposition temperature, The ball-on-disk friction and wear tests showed that the friction coefficients and the wear factors of the films lowered with increasing chlorine content. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses at wear scars demonstrated that chlorine with ionic bonding property prevented the oxidation of the films, and reduced the friction coefficient and the wear volume.