Adhesion and wear studies of magnetron sputtered NbN films

• Published in: Tribology international Vol. 50; pp. 16 - 25
• Main Authors: Singh, Kulwant, Krishnamurthy, N., Suri, A.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adhesion; Adhesive wear; Applied sciences; Coating; Contact of materials. Friction. Wear; Deposition; Electric potential; Exact sciences and technology; Failure; Fracture mechanics (crack, fatigue, damage...); Friction; Friction, wear, lubrication; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Machine components; Magnetron sputtering; Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Mechanical properties and methods of testing. Rheology. Fracture mechanics. Tribology; Metals. Metallurgy; Physics; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Tribology; Wear; Coating; Friction; Adhesion; Wear; Acoustic emission testing; Scratching test; Autoregressive model; Coatings; Sputtering; Surface structure; Direct current; Adhesive joint; Voltage; Reciprocating movement machine; Acoustic measurement; Rupture; Mechanical contact; Regression analysis; Indentation; Plate; Crystalline material; Critical load; Reactive sputtering; Cathodic sputtering; Tribology
• ISSN: 0301-679X; 1879-2464
• DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2011.12.023

NbN films were deposited on MS, SS and HSS substrates by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Effects of N2 flow and substrate biasing were studied on the deposition rate, crystal structure, surface hardness, adhesion and tribology. Scratch test was carried out for adhesion evaluation. Online recording of friction, depth of indentation and acoustic emission was carried out. Critical loads for cohesive and adhesive failures were observed. Tribological evaluation was performed on wear and friction machine with reciprocating ball-on-plate configuration at 3and 6N loads and at 5 and 15Hz frequencies against hard chrome steel balls of 12.7mm diameter. Coatings deposited at N2/Ar flow ratio of 0.20–0.30 and at substrate bias voltage of −50 to −75V showed higher hardness, better adhesion and low coefficient of friction. ► NbN films were deposited on MS, SS and HSS substrates by magnetron sputtering. ► Coatings were studied for thickness, structure, hardness, adhesion and wear. ► Scratch test was carried out to explore the critical loads for failures. ► Wear test was performed by varying the load, frequency and duration.