Evaluation of nanocrystalline TiN films prepared by arc ion plating

Monolayer and multilayer TiN films were synthesized on a SKD 11 steel sheet by an arc ion plating technique and the correlation between the microstructure and properties of the TiN films was comparatively investigated. The results indicated that the main phase was fcc-TiN, showing a (200) preferred orientation in the film under 2.0 × 10⁻¹ torr N₂ partial pressure, whereas a gradual transition to (111) preferred orientation was observed with decreasing N₂ partial pressure to 1.4 × 10⁻¹ torr. The (200) and (111) textures in the film under an arc current of 80 A were found to be competitive orientations, but the (200) texture became stronger as the arc current was increased. Compared to the optimal monolayer TiN films, the multilayer TiN film possessed high hardness of up to 20.3 ± 1.3 GPa and excellent wear resistance. These features are attributed to the presence of dense microstructures that are mainly composed of TiN phase and are around 1.7 μm to 1.8 μm in thickness.