The performance of tribological coatings depends greatly on the adhesion strength between coating and substrate and the substrate morphology strongly affects the mechanical properties of coatings. It has been recently shown that a comparatively low-energy nitrogen ion beam (1-2 kV) with a much higher beam current density can increase the hardness of some high-speed tools. When the nitrogen ion implantation is used as a preliminary process, it can lead to increase of the surface roughness. Before covering, the tools are cleaned by glow discharge in nitrogen atmosphere (nitriding preprocessing). After cleaning, a short-time titanium bombardment is used (titanizing preprocessing). The bias voltage in both cases is of the order of 1 kV and the final coverage is made after these preliminary processes.

In this work, we have investigated the influence of the implantation with low-energy N- and Ti-ions on the surface roughness of wolfram carbide (WC) high speed tool-plate. We have also studied the surface topography of TiN layers deposited on the WC high speed tool-plate as a function of time of nitriding and titanizing preprocessing. TiN coatings have been prepared by the ARC physical vapour deposition (PVD) technique in a commercial equipment PUSK 83. We have carried out complex optical, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations. The optical studies include X-Y optical profilometer measurements and bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) measurements, being complementary to AFM and SEM methods. The mean initial value of s_rms (root-mean square) roughness of WC substrates is equal to 255 nm and after 20 min of nitrogen cleaning process s_rms rises to about 550 nm. For short deposition time of the subsequent TiN layer, its surface roughness reflects the substrate roughness, while with longer deposition time the TiN surface becomes more and more smooth.

Keywords: TiN, nitrogen implantation, surface roughness

• Legal notice:
  

  Copyright (c) Pielaszek Research, all rights reserved.
  The above materials, including auxiliary resources, are subject to Publisher's copyright and the Author(s) intellectual rights. Without limiting Author(s) rights under respective Copyright Transfer Agreement, no part of the above documents may be reproduced without the express written permission of Pielaszek Research, the Publisher. Express permission from the Author(s) is required to use the above materials for academic purposes, such as lectures or scientific presentations.
  In every case, proper references including Author(s) name(s) and URL of this webpage: https://science24.com/paper/11201 must be provided.

1. Antireflective properties of silica films formed in sol-gel processes
2. Fourier analysis of optical profilometry and BRDF in paints art investigations
3. Study on photovoltaic devices based on polymer and SiC nanoparticles
4. Characterization of Polyazomethine thin films by optical measurements
5. Surface investigations of TiN layers on different substrates
6. Irradiance measurements of electroluminescence PAQ films
7. Temperature dependencies of optical parameters of 1H[3,4-b]chinoline films used in electroluminescence devices
8. Determination of steel surfaces roughness subjected to etching and oxidation processes
9. Determination of optical parameters of polyazomethine thin films by reflectance measurements.