Composite ternary nitrides of the form TM-NM-N, where TM and NM stand for Transition Metal and Noble Metal respectively, are interesting materials for mechanical applications, since their mechanical properties may be tailored based on the existing metal and nitride phases. The nitride and metal phases contribute to the hardness and the ductility of the composite structure, respectively. The very low miscibility between NM and N and the high heat of formation of NM-N promote the formation of composites consisting of TM-N and NM phases. In this work we present the growth of Ti-Cu-N films (an example of TM-NM-N) by hybrid Pulsed Laser Deposition. In this configuration, a composite Ti-Cu target, which was ablated by a high-fluence Nd:YAG laser (2nd harmonic) in N₂ ambient was used. The process was carried out in a homogeneous electric field with the substrate being at a negative DC potential (-50 V) with respect to the target. The partial pressure of the ablated Ti-Cu vapor was ~1x10^-3 Pa, while the base pressure P_b was <5x10^-5 Pa. The N₂ partial pressure (P_N2) varied between 1x10^-2 Pa and 40 Pa. Under these conditions there was no self-sustained plasma generation (even for the highest P_N2 case) due to the low value of V_b. However, laser-induced plasma generation was observed for a wide range of pressures. Films with the typical gold-like appearance of TiN were grown at P_N2~10^-1 Pa. The effects of P_N2 to the Metal/N ratio and Ti/Cu ratio into the films, as well as the crystal structure of the films were systematically studied employing in-situ Auger Electron Spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction, respectively.

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