Tribology and oxidation behavior of TiN/AlN nano-multilayer films

In this study, a series of TiN/AlN nano-multilayer films were prepared using a new sputtering setup, which features a medium frequency (MF) twin unbalanced magnetron sputtering system (UBMS) and a DC balanced magnetron sputtering system (BMS). The MF (6.78 MHz) twin UBMS, which is a modification of single RF power source system, is a special design of this deposition machine. The UBMS was employed to deposit the AlN film, and the BMS the TiN film. The aim of this study was to obtain, through controlling the deposition conditions, a group of TiN/AlN nano-multilayer films with various periods ( λ). Then a series of experiments were conducted to understand their wear and oxidation properties. The results revealed that through controlling of the deposition parameters, the TiN/AlN nano-multilayer films with λ ranging from 2.4 to 67.6 nm were obtained. At λ≦3.6 nm, the nano-multilayers had extremely high hardness and excellent adhesion. The oxidation tests found that the multilayers had obviously better anti-oxidation property, as compared with the single-layer TiN film. The high hardness and good oxidation resistance contributed to very good wear performance of the TiN/AlN nano-multilayer films.