Influence of ion-to-neutral flux ratio on the mechanical and tribological properties of TiN coatings deposited by HiPIMS

According to the mass spectrometry results, the contribution of low and intermediate energetic parts (ions with energies below 20 eV) to Ti+ ion energy distribution functions significantly increases during ultra-short and multi-pulse HiPIMS discharge. The highest ion flux fraction (up to 52%) was measured for the multi-pulse HiPIMS operation mode. The hardest coatings, with the highest H/E and H3/E2 ratios and lowest kinetic coefficient of friction were found to be the TiN thin films deposited by multi-pulse HiPIMS.