Study of TiN/ZrN/TiN/ZrN multilayers coatings grown by cathodic arc technique

The TiN/ZrN/TiN/ZrN multilayers were grown through the Plasma Assisted Physic Vapor Deposition (PAPVD) by the pulsed arc technique in a noncommercial system, manufactured in our laboratory. Thin films were deposited on 316 stainless steel substrate with different discharges number (one to five discharges per layer), TiN and ZrN possess FCC crystal lattices. The coatings were characterized in terms of crystalline structure, microstructure and chemical nature by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) respectively. The results showed (1 1 1) and (2 0 0) plane orientations for TiN and ZrN as the most intense. The crystallite size changes in function of the discharges number. The microstrain of the ZrN is always greater than those of the TiN, indicating a greater presence of dislocations and/or defects in the lattice of ZrN when increasing the interfaces. Chemical nature in multilayer shows that the ZrN layer has a greater content of nitrogen than in the TiN layer. The grain size and roughness parameters have a constant behaviour with the increase of the discharges number.