A NEW CONCEPT FOR PHYSICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION COATING COMBINING THE METHODS OF ARC EVAPORATION AND UNBALANCED-MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Today's hard-coating systems for the finishing of cutting tools are based mainly on electron-beam and arc-evaporation techniques, and to only a limited extent on sputtering methods. A new coating concept combines recently developed unbalanced-magnetron sputtering technology and the arc-evaporation process. It takes advantage of the possibilities of titanium ion etching with arc sources on the one hand and, on the other hand, sputter-deposition of hard coatings at high ion-to-neutral ratios and low particle energies, using the unbalanced magnetron. A careful scientific investigation of the properties of TiN coatings produced by current industrial ion plating and sputtering processes has led to the development of new deposition sources and a unique, user-friendly custom-coating apparatus. The present article outlines the industrial implementation of these ideas, the process control principles involved, and first results on properties of the TiN films thus produced.