This work presents the results of (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N superhard coatings research. The samples were fabricated
by the vacuum-arc deposition method (Arc-PVD). Structure, composition and properties of these coatings were
studied. The study of coatings was carried out using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Hardness measurements and adhesion tests were performed. The coatings thickness was up to 6.2  m, nanocrystallites sizes ranged from 4 to 7.3 nm. Values of hardness and cohesive streng

Beresnev, V.M.

Bondar, Oleksandr Viacheslavovych

Kravchenko, Yuliia Anatoliivna

Kuzmenko, A.P.

Postolnyi, Bohdan Oleksandrovych

Shypylenko, A.P.

Sobol, O.V.

Zukowski, P.

Бондар, Олександр В`ячеславович

Бондарь, Александр Вячеславович

Кравченко, Юлия Анатольевна

Кравченко, Юлія Анатоліївна

Постольний, Богдан Олександрович

Постольный, Богдан Александрович

SocioEconomic Challenges Journal (Sumy State University)

Vol. 128 (2015) ACTA PHYSICA POLONICA A No. 5
Proc. of the X Int. Conf. — Ion Implantation and other Applications of Ions and Electrons, Kazimierz Dolny 2014
Fabrication and Research
of Superhard (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N Coatings
O.V. Bondara, B.O. Postolnyia,∗, Yu.A. Kravchenkoa, A.P. Shypylenkoa,
O.V. Sobolb, V.M. Beresnevc, A.P. Kuzmenkod and P. Zukowskie
aSumy State University, R. Korsakova 2, 40007 Sumy, Ukraine
bNational Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kharkiv, Ukraine
cKharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine
dSouth-West State University, Kursk, Russian Federation
eDepartment of Electrical Devices and High Voltage Technology, Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland
This work presents the results of (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N superhard coatings research. The samples were fabricated
by the vacuum-arc deposition method (Arc-PVD). Structure, composition and properties of these coatings were
studied. The study of coatings was carried out using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy,
and X-ray diffraction. Hardness measurements and adhesion tests were performed. The coatings thickness was
up to 6.2 µm, nanocrystallites sizes ranged from 4 to 7.3 nm. Values of hardness and cohesive strength were
H = 43.7 GPa and LC = 62.06 N, respectively. The optimal conditions for coating deposition were found.
DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.128.867
PACS: 61.46.–w, 62.20.Qp
1. Introduction
The nitride coatings based on the transition metals
such as TiN, ZrN, CrN, NbN and others are intensively
used in various branches of industry nowadays (aerospace
machines, different biomedical applications, treatment
of cutting tools, diffusion barriers in modern electron-
ics, etc.) [1–6]. Ternary and quaternary nitride systems
are under great interest because of their unique combi-
nation of structural characteristics and exceptional me-
chanical properties, wear-corrosion-oxidation resistance.
For example, ternary nitride coatings are produced by
addition of a third element such as V, Al, Nb, Zr etc. to
a binary nitride compounds (e.g. TiN, MoN, VN, ZrN,
CrN, AlN, NbN). A small quantity of the third element
significantly changes the morphology, structure, physical
and mechanical properties of the coatings [7–10]. Qua-
ternary coatings of the above systems, such as Ti-Al–Si–
N, Zr–Nb–Ti–Cr–N, Zr–Ti–Cr–N and others are also of
great interests [11]. Minor addition of alloying elements
into binary and ternary nitride system provide a further
improvement of coatings properties and structure. For
example, if the constituent elements have significant dif-
ferences in atomic radii, we can expect the formation of
nanocrystalline structures. The presence of alloying ele-
ments such as Cr improves the oxidation resistance, Zr
and V contribute to a better wear resistance, whereas Nb
increase the hardness and thermal stability [12–14].
It should be noted that the magnetron sputter-
ing is one of the most widely used techniques for
∗corresponding author; e-mail: alexp@i.ua
the multicomponent nitride coatings deposition. In this
paper, the vacuum arc deposition was used for the prepa-
ration of nitride coatings. Good advantage of this
method is its ability to generate a much higher degree
of ionization than other ion-plating processes, providing
a better film adhesion and higher densities.
The goal of this paper is to study the structure
and properties of (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N coatings, fabricated
by vacuum arc deposition. The influence of deposi-
tion parameters on the microstructure and properties of
the films are investigated and discussed.
2. Experimental details
Coatings of (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N system were fabricated
using the vacuum-arc deposition method (Arc-PVD).
The samples were deposited in nitrogen atmosphere us-
ing the vacuum-arc device “Bulat-6” [13]. The evaporated
material was a cast in block Zr+Ti+Cr+Nb cathode
(composition: Cr — 37.39 at.%, Zr — 27.99 at.%, Nb —
22.30 at.%, Ti — 12.32 at.%) fabricated by electron-beam
melting. Table I shows physical and technological pa-
rameters of coatings fabrication based on the (Zr–Ti–
Cr–Nb)N system.
Surface morphology of coatings and their elemental
composition were studied using the scanning electron
microscope JEOL-6610 LV equipped with a built-in en-
ergy dispersive analyzer (X-Max Silicon Drift Detector).
The crystal structure and phase composition were an-
alyzed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) with D8 AD-
VANCE and DRON-4 diffractometers using Cu Kα ir-
radiation. The XRD patterns were taken in the point-
by-point scanning mode with the scanning step 2θ =
0.02−0.2◦ in the range of angles 25−90◦.
(867)
868 O.V. Bondar et al.
TABLE I
Deposition parameters and elemental composition of coatings.
Sample
Ia [A] pN [Pa] Ub [V]
Concentration [at. %]
No Ti Zr Cr Nb N C O Impurities
1 0.3 –100 10.21 6.63 15.22 4.96 18.70 38.29 5.42 0.57
2
110
0.7 –100 12.30 8.48 16.92 6.17 22.32 27.35 6.46 –
3 0.3 –200 11.27 8.03 18.23 7.48 23.20 31.79 – –
4 0.7 –200 10.40 7.81 11.00 6.73 22.66 35.63 5.37 0.39
Microhardness of coatings was measured by automated
Vickers hardness tester AFFRI DM-8. The imprints were
made at the distance of 1.0 mm between each other,
10 measurements were held for each sample. In order
to reduce the impact of droplet component and in order
to measure the hardness of the coatings more accurately,
some coatings had been polished after deposition.
Studying of mechanical characteristics (hardness) of
the (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N coatings was carried out by a DM-
8 hardness tester. The imprints were made at the dis-
tance of 1.0 mm between each other, ten measure-
ments were held for each sample. In order to reduce
the impact of droplet component, part of the coatings
were polished after deposition. Scratch-tester Revetest
(CSM Instruments) was used for adhesion strength study.
The scratches were made on the surface of the coated
samples at continuously increasing load by means of
the diamond spherical indenter “Rockwell C” type with a
radius of curvature of 200 µm and there were registered
the following physical parameters: acoustic emission, co-
efficient of friction and depth of penetration of the in-
denter. To obtain the reliable results, two scratches on
the surface of the coating were made.
The following critical loads changing the coefficient of
friction and acoustic emission curves from the scribing
load are: LC1 — characterizes the time of occurrence of
the first chevron crack; LC2 — the moment of the ap-
pearance of chevron cracks; LC3 — the destruction of
cohesive and adhesive nature; LC4 — the local flaking of
the areas of the coating; LC5 — the plastic abrasion of
the coating to the substrate.
3. Results and discussion
Figure 1 present the SEM images of the (Zr–Ti–Cr–
Nb)N coatings. One can see molten droplets there, which
may be incorporated into the coating as macroparticles;
it is typical during vacuum arc deposition [15–18]. As we
can see from Fig. 1, the (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N coating con-
tains inclusions of a droplet fraction up to 6 µm in diam-
eter. Such microdroplets have ellipsoidal shape, which
indicates that they moved almost parallel to the sub-
strate plane. An increase of the deposition flow tem-
perature using high bias voltage (U = −200 V) consid-
erably decreased a droplet concentration on the surface
(see Fig. 1b). The reduced content of droplets can be
explained by melting processes on the coating’s surface.
Fig. 1. SEM-images of the (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N coatings:
(a) PN = 0.3 Pa, U = −100 V; (b) PN = 0.7 Pa,
U = −200 V.
Fig. 2. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum
(sample #2).
The elemental analysis shows that the ratio of elements
in the composition of material has the same tendency in
all obtained coatings: CC > CN > CCr > CTi > CZr >
CNb > Cimpurities. Detailed elemental compositions of
samples #1–4 are listed in Table I. The energy-dispersive
X-ray spectrum obtained from the sample #2 (see Fig. 2)
confirms the existence of elements presented in Table I.
TABLE II
Size (L) and lattice constants of crystallites (for fcc
lattice).
Sample 1 2 3 4
grain size, L [nm] 5.2 4.5 5.1 6.9
lattice constant [nm] 0.4365 0.4359 0.4410 0.4381
The phase analysis of (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N nitride coat-
ings using XRD is presented in Fig. 3. It indicates
the presence of the TiN fcc phase (a = 0.243 nm,
Fabrication and Research of Superhard (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N Coatings 869
Fig. 3. X-ray diffraction patterns obtained for sam-
ples #1–4.
Fig. 4. Results of microhardness measurements of
the coatings.
atab = 0.244 nm) and Cr2N tetragonal modification
(space group P31m, a = 0.4800 nm, c = 0.4472 nm).
The formation of a two-phase structure is obviously
related to the presence of high concentrations of Cr
and Nb elements, which have a low enthalpy of forma-
tion of nitrides [19]. The substrate bias strongly in-
fluences the orientation changing from preferred (111)
to mixed (111) and (200) ones, and the appearance of
the (112) and (300) reflections at high angles (Cr2N
tetragonal phase). It is worth saying that the maximum
intensity of the (112) and (300) reflections corresponds
to the highest concentration of Cr in the coating [13, 17].
Table II lists the grain size and lattice parameters of
the (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N coatings, which were further eval-
uated from the XRD patterns. This table reveals that
the lattice constant increases with bias increasing. This is
reasonable because the energetic bombardment causes in-
corporation of nitrogen atoms into the spaces in the grow-
ing coating that are smaller than the usual atomic vol-
ume (so called “atomic peening effect”) [20–22]. Addition-
ally, the grain size of the (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N nitride coat-
ings is around 5.5 nm under all of various biases, which
means that deposited coatings have fine nanocrystalline
structures.
Microhardness measurements of the investigated sam-
ples are presented in Fig. 4. Growth of microhardness
Fig. 5. Results of adhesion tests of the investigated
coatings.
observed in the coatings with a larger crystallite size
which were fabricated at higher nitrogen pressure and
bias potential. In addition, sample #4 became a leader
in the adhesive tests (see Fig. 5). Comparative analy-
sis shows that the coatings are erased, but not peeled
during scratching. That is cohesive failure associated
with plastic deformation [23–25], and formation of fatigue
cracks in the coating’s material takes place. The cohesive
strength of multi-component coating (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N
was determined from the measurements (LC = 62.06 N).
4. Conclusions
The (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N superhard coatings were fabri-
cated by the vacuum-arc deposition method. The TiN
fcc phase (a = 0.243 nm, atab = 0.244 nm) and tetrag-
onal Cr2N were formed during deposition of the inves-
tigated coatings. The hardness of the fabricated mate-
rials significantly depends on the deposition conditions,
structure and phase composition. The maximum hard-
ness H = 43.1 GPa was observed in the coatings with
the biggest crystallites size, which were fabricated at
high values of the nitrogen pressure in the chamber and
substrate potential. The indenter load value exceeding
the cohesive strength of coatings was LC = 62.06 N.
Acknowledgments
The paper was prepared within the framework of
comprehensive state program “Development of the basis
for formation of multicomponent nanostructured super-
hard coatings with high physical and mechanical proper-
ties” (number 0112U001382) and “Physical principles of
plasma technologies for complex processing of multicom-
ponent materials and coatings” (number 0113U000137c).
870 O.V. Bondar et al.
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Fabrication and Research of Superhard (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N Coatings

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Fabrication and Research of Superhard (Zr–Ti–Cr–Nb)N Coatings

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SocioEconomic Challenges Journal (Sumy State University)