Synthesis and mechanical evaluation of quaternary Ti-Cr-Si-N coatings deposited by a hybrid method of arc ion plating and sputtering techniques

New quaternary Ti-Cr-Si-N coatings were synthesized onto steel substrates (AISI D2) and Si wafers using a hybrid method of arc ion plating (AIP) and sputtering techniques. For the syntheses of Ti-Cr-Si-N coatings, the Ti-Cr-N coating process was performed substantially by a multi-cathodic AIP technique using Cr and Ti targets, and Si could be added by sputtering Si target during Ti-Cr-N deposition. In this work, comparative studies on microstructure and evaluation of mechanical properties between Ti-Cr-N and Ti-Cr-Si-N coatings were conducted. As the Si was incorporated into Ti-Cr-N coatings, the Ti-Cr-Si-N coatings showed largely increased hardness value of approximately 42 GPa than one of 28 GPa for Ti-Cr-N coatings. The average friction coefficient of Ti-Cr-N coatings largely decreased from 0.7 to 0.35 with increasing Si content up to 20 at.%.