Formation of TiN, TiC and TiCN by metal plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition

Titanium nitride, titanium carbide and titanium carbonitride are well known compounds displaying a rather high hardness and melting point, thus enabling their use as hard coatings. With a titanium cathode and both nitrogen and methane gas, a series of compound TiCxNy can be prepared with the final points TiN and TiC using metal plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition. The respective properties of the films are investigated by X-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. With increasing pulse voltage, a decreasing carbon content and growth rate is found for the TiC series, while no such effect is observed for corresponding TiN films.