Reactive sputter-deposition of titanium nitride on AISI 304 in a plasma focus environment (Work supported by the HEC, Pakistan)

Summary form only given. Titanium nitride films are extensively used in numerous industrial areas owing to their superior mechanical properties such as high abrasion resistance, low friction coefficient, high temperature stability and high hardness. The mechanical properties of TiN film are strongly related to its preferred orientation. This work reports the deposition of poly crystalline and hard thin films of TiN on AISI-304 substrates using a 1.5 kJ Mather-type dense plasma focus device charged at 18 kV. Structural and mechanical properties of the TiN thin films have been investigated in terms of ion dose and substrate position to establish the optimum deposition conditions. The films are analyzed using XRD, SEM, electron microprobe and micro-hardness testing. XRD confirms the deposition of a polycrystalline TiN thin film together with the emergence of an iron chromium nickel phase. Figure shows a typical SEM micrograph of a sample exposed for 30 shots placed at axial distance of 8 cm.The surface hardness-in comparison to the unexposed substrate-is found to increase up to 250% when a film is deposited using 30 focus shots at an axial distance of 6 cm. SEM micrographs show that the quality of the film is improved with an increasing number of focus shots. The constituent elements of the film are also confirmed by electron microprobe.