Effect of Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Power on the Properties of Ultra Hard Nanocrystalline TiN Coatings

Ultra hard TiN coatings were fabricated by DC and ICP (inductively coupled plasma) magnetron sputtering techniques. The effects of ICP power, ranging from 0 to 300 W, on the coating microstructure, crystallographic, and mechanical properties were systematically investigated with FE-SEM, AFM, HR-XRD and nanoindentation. The results show that ICP power has a significant influence on the coating microstructure and mechanical properties of TiN coatings. With an increasing ICP power, the film microstructure evolves from an apparent columnar structure to a highly dense one. Grain sizes of TiN coatings decreased from 12.6 nm to 8.7 nm with an increase of the ICP power. A maximum nanohardness of 67.6 GPa was obtained for the coatings deposited at an ICP power of 300 W. The crystal structure and preferred orientation in the TiN coatings also varied with the ICP power, exerting an effective influence on film nanohardness.