Influence of substrate temperature on structure and mechanical, properties of multi-element (AlCrTaTiZr)N coatings

Multi-element (AlCrTaTiZr)N coatings are prepared by reactive RF magnetron sputtering for a constant argon and nitrogen flow. The influence of the substrate temperature (100 to 500 °C) on the chemical composition, microstructure and mechanical properties of these coatings is investigated. A reduction of the nitrogen concentration is observed with increasing the substrate temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that these coatings are of a single-phase face-centered-cubic structure. Furthermore, it is determined from XRD analysis that there is an increase in (200) peak intensity and the decrease in crystallite size and lattice parameter, for increasing substrate temperature. An increase in substrate temperature results in a monotonic decrease of compressive internal macrostress from 3.2 to 2.0 GPa. High hardness and elastic modulus around 35 and 350 GPa, respectively, were obtained nearly independent of the substrate temperature.