Interrelationships among macrostress, microstructure and mechanical behavior of sputtered hard Ti(Al,V)N films

The article reports on the influence of a compressive macrostress σ in the Ti(Al,V)N films on their mechanical properties, structure, microstructure, and resistance to cracking. The macrostress σ is controlled by the energy Ebi delivered into the growing film by bombarding ions. The Ti(Al,V)N films were sputtered by a dual magnetron with closed magnetic field. It is shown that (1) the compressive macrostress (σ < 0) increases the hardness H of the film and the ratio H/E∗, (2) the films exhibits a dense, voids-free, non-columnar microstructure in the case when the energy Ebi ≥ 3 MJ/cm3, (3) the enhanced resistance to cracking of the films is controlled by its mechanical properties, microstructure and macrostress σ; here E∗ is the effective Young's modulus.