A study of the oxidation behavior of CrN and CrZrN ceramic thin films prepared in a magnetron sputtering system

CrN and CrZrN ceramic thin films were produced by a planar type reactive sputtering system on glass and stainless steel substrates. We investigated oxidation resistance of CrN and CrZrN ceramic thin films with different Zr contents. The structure of the films at different thermal-annealing temperatures was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical properties of the films at different thermal-annealing temperatures were measured by nano-indentation. The results of this study showed that the addition of few amount of Zr (0.4 at%), can improve thermal stability of CrZrN ceramic thin film and increase the oxidation temperature of the film from 600 °C to 800 °C. The relatively good oxidation resistance (800 °C) and high hardness of the film with the lowest Zr content, indicates that this film is a good candidate for high temperature applications.