The Effect of Deposition Temperature and Work Pressure on Ti–B–C Nanocomposite Coating Prepared by Multitarget Magnetron Cosputtering

Ternary Ti-B-C nanocomposite coatings were synthesized on a Si(100) wafer and stainless steel substrates from Ti and B₄C targets, respectively, by multitarget magnetron cosputtering. Extensive measurements were taken to investigate the influences of deposition temperature and work pressure on microstructure, hardness, elastic modulus, residual stress, friction coefficient, and adhesion strength. The maximum hardness of 42 GPa occurred at the deposition temperature of 400^°C and work pressure of 0.5 Pa. The hardest coating also showed the lowest residual stress and the highest critical load. These enhancement effects should be related to nanocrystalline structure formation.