Exploring the benefits of depositing hard TiN thin films by non-reactive magnetron sputtering

► A comparative study of TiN deposition by the usual reactive route vs. the more direct non-reactive route has been performed. ► Films prepared by the non-reactive route showed improved mechanical and tribological performance, due to lower presence of contaminations. ► The application of biasing in case of a non-reactive route leads to outstanding hardness enhancement (up to 45 GPa). ► Extended XRD analysis allows discriminating the origin of peaks displacements.