Nanocomposite coatings of TiN-Ni in the form of nc-ceramic/a-metal were deposited on (100) Si wafer and AISI304L stainless steel using an ultra high vacuum dual ion beam sputtering system. A composite Ti-Ni target was sputtered with 1,2 keV Ar⁺ions and the growing film was continuously bombarded with a mixture of 50 eV Ar⁺-N²⁺-N⁺ ions during deposition. Phases, grain size and texture of the coatings were determined by XRD in the θ-2θ and GIXRD geometries. XRD results show that δ-TiN is the only crystalline phase and Ni is expected to be as an XRay amorphous phase. In order to obtain additional structural details on the nanostructure, TEM and XPS experiments were carried out. The TEM observations confirm the formation of a nanocomposite structure with cristallite size of < 10 nm for TiN grains and reveals equiaxed growth morphology. XPS studies show that Ni is only present in the amorphous intergranular phase and exhibits a metallic character. The formation of nickel nitride is not detected and the incorporation of Ti in Ni is negligible.The friction coefficient is slightly lower than for TiN and these coatings exhibit an increased wear resitance in ball on disc tests. Such improved wear resitance is attributed firstly to the development of a nanocomposite structure and increased toughness of nc-TiN/a-Ni coating with respect to pure TiN.

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