Structure and properties of TiN coatings deposited by filtered vacuum-arc plasma in the gas mixture N2 with Ar

Results of the study of structure, state of stress and hardness of TiN coatings deposited with PIII&D by using rectilinear filtered vacuum arc plasma system are present. Study the effect of argon addition into the nitrogen environment in the range from 0 to 45 % on characteristics of coatings deposited with application of a high pulse bias potential with amplitude of 1 kV have been performed. It was found that the coatings have a structure of TiN (structural type NaCl) with the [110] axial texture regardless of the concentration of argon in the gas mixture. With increasing the content of argon the level of residual stress is increased from 7 GPa to 10 GPa, the grain size in the coatings is reduced from 8-9 nm to 7 nm, and the coating hardness remains at a high level 27-32 GPa.