Influence substrate temperature on structural properties of TiN/TiC bilayers produced by pulsed arc techniques

This paper presents an investigation regarding influence of substrate temperature during deposition on the characteristics of TiN/TiC bilayers grown by plasma-assisted pulsed arc discharge. The substrate temperatures were 50, 100 and 150 °C. The gases used in the experiment were N2 for TiN and CH4 for TiC. These coatings were studied by X-ray diffraction techniques determining the variation of the lattice parameters for each film. The Scherrer equation was used to calculate the crystallite size and the micro-strain. The X-rays analysis showed an increase in the substrate temperature made the formation of TiC in (2 0 0) orientation favorable. The sample grown at 50 °C presented low crystallinity and it was increased as the substrate temperature increases. Using a scanning probe microscopy, with atomic force microscopy, phase detection microscopy and force modulation microscopy modes, the morphology of the deposited layer was studied and macro-particles were observed using gray scales to identify differences in the friction coefficient and material composition in the coatings. It has been found that the increment of the substrate temperature decreases the condensation of microdroplets on the surface. Lateral force microscopy was used to calculate friction coefficient of the TiN and TiC monolayers and we found that the friction coefficient is smaller for TiC than for TiN.