Characterisation and tribological evaluation of nitrogen-containing molybdenum-copper PVD metallic nanocomposite films

It was found that increasing the nitrogen gas flow rate from 0 to 15 sccm (and therefore nitrogen content in the film from 0 to 24 at.% N), refined significantly the coating microstructure from columnar to a dense and more equiaxed morphology, increasing the hardness whilst maintaining (almost constant) elastic modulus values, close to that of molybdenum metal. Further increases in the nitrogen gas flow rate resulted in films that appeared to contain significant fractions of the Mo2N ceramic phase. SEM and cross-sectional TEM analyses of the film deposited at a nitrogen flow rate of 20 sccm (containing ∼36 at.% N) demonstrated a microstructure consisting of 50-100 nm wide columns, which contain small regions of contrast in dark-field images, of the order of 3-5 nm wide. A maximum hardness of 32 GPa and the highest hardness/modulus ratio was however found in the (predominantly metallic) film deposited at a nitrogen gas flow rate of 15 sccm. This film also performed best in both micro-abrasion and impact wear tests; in contrast, the 'ceramic' film (deposited at 20 sccm nitrogen flow rate) performed better in reciprocating sliding wear.