Microstructural, tribological and electrochemical corrosion studies on reactive DC magnetron sputtered zirconium nitride films with Zr interlayer on steel

Thin films of Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. The structure of the films was examined by X-ray diffraction and the crystallographic parameters were refined by Rietveld analysis. The columnar micro-structure was observed via cross-sectional SEM analysis. Defect induced, first order spectra were observed from Laser Raman studies. XPS showed the presence of Zr (N,O) ZrO₂ phases on the surface of the film. The pitting corrosion was substantially reduced by the employment of Zr film as an interlayer. Corrosion tests revealed that ZrN films with a Zr interlayer exhibited clear passivation characteristics with considerably better corrosion resistance than the film without an interlayer.