Journal of Materials Science, Vol.37, No.17, 3777-3787, 2002
Synthesis and characterization of TiBCN coatings deposited by ion beam assisted, co-evaporation electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD)
TiC, TiB2, and super hard TiBCN coatings were successfully deposited by ion beam assisted, electron beam-physical vapor deposition. Titanium, titanium diboride, and carbon (through tungsten) were co-evaporated by energetic electron beams while simultaneously bombarding the substrates with varying ionized gas ratios of nitrogen and argon to obtain super hard TiBCN coatings. The hardness of the TiBCN coating was reported to be equivalent to a soft diamond like carbon film. The adhesion was determined to be greater than 50 N. The hardness, grain size, structure, morphology, crystallographic texture and degree of stress within the coatings were determined using a variety of characterization methods including Vicker's hardness measurements, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction. The author is not aware of previous TiBCN coatings being deposited by this method.