Influence of bias voltage on properties of AlCrN coatings prepared by cathodic arc deposition

F. Lomello (1) , Frédéric Sanchette (2) , Frédéric Schuster , M. Tabarant (3) , Alain Billard (1)

1 IRTES - LERMPS - Laboratoire d'Études et de Recherches sur les Matériaux, les Procédés et les Surfaces
2 LASMIS - Laboratoire des Systèmes Mécaniques et d'Ingénierie Simultanée
3 SEARS - Service d'études analytiques et de réactivité des surfaces

AlCrN coatings were prepared by vacuum cathodic arc deposition. This low-temperature technique has been chosen due to its versatility, allowing the industrial up-scaling. In this study, the attention was focused on the correlation of the bias voltage with the resulting mechanical–tribological properties. For this purpose, the bias voltage was varied from 0 to − 150 V. Indeed, the variation of grain sizes from 24 to 16 nm as well as the residual stresses from − 0.68 to − 8.94 GPa lead to obtain different mechanical–tribological properties. In this context, the sample deposited at − 100 V exhibited an enhanced hardness (50 ± 2 GPa) and an acceptable wear resistance.

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Mechanics [physics.med-ph]; Mechanics of materials [physics.class-ph]

F. Lomello, Frédéric Sanchette, Frédéric Schuster, M. Tabarant, Alain Billard. Influence of bias voltage on properties of AlCrN coatings prepared by cathodic arc deposition. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2013, 224, pp.77-81. ⟨10.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.02.051⟩. ⟨hal-02278328⟩