Zirconium carbonitride films deposited by combined magnetron sputtering and ion implantation (CMSII)

In the present study the properties of zirconium carbonitride coatings, deposited by a duplex process that combines magnetron sputtering and ion implantation, are investigated. As a particularity of the deposition process, periodically on the substrate, besides DC bias voltage, negative high voltage pulses are applied with a frequency of 25 Hz.The influence of the nitrogen, and of a hydrocarbon (butane C4H10) reactive gas flow rates on the phase structure, chemical composition and coatings morphology was investigated. The investigations were performed by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Glow Discharge Optical Spectrometry (GDOS) techniques.Depending on the deposition conditions, coatings with microhardness in the range 3180–4050 HV0.05 have been obtained. The wear tests indicated that although zirconium carbonitride coatings, with an atomic ratio C/N of 0.9 within the coatings, have the highest microhardness (4050 HV0.05), their wear resistance was the poorest, while the coatings with a lower microhardness have a better wear resistance.