Plasma assisted techniques for deposition of superhard nanocomposite coatings

Various techniques based on plasma application have been successfully used for deposition of superhard nanocomposite coatings. These techniques possess many varying parameters, which in turn influence the properties of a growing coating. Therefore it is important to reveal common regularities, if any, between the process parameters and properties of the coatings. The paper addresses this issue based on the results acquired by the application of plasma assisted CVD and PVD methods. Here it is shown how different deposition parameters, such as working gas pressure, bias and temperature, affect coating properties, mainly hardness. These parameters are found to have a complex influence and the effect caused by variation of one deposition parameter can be similar to that of another one. This presents an opportunity to improve other properties of the coating while maintaining the hardness.