THE MORPHOLOGY AND ORIENTATION OF CR-N FILMS DEPOSITED BY REACTIVE ION PLATING

CrN films were prepared by reactive ion plating. The influence of preparation conditions (nitrogen pressure, substrate bias voltage and ion current density) on the crystal orientation, morphology and microhardness of the CrN films were investigated. The crystal structure and morphology of these films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The compositions of the CrN films were also examined. With increasing bias voltage and ion current density, the morphology of the CrN films changed from a granular structure to a columnar structure. The orientation of the Cr2N films changed from (111) to (300) as the substrate bias voltage increased. No clear columnar structure was observed in Cr2N films. Cr + Cr2N films exhibited very fine granular structures. The highest average value of the microhardness of the CrN films obtained in this work was 2310 kgf mm-2 measured at a 10 gf load. © 1990.