Structure and mechanical properties of Zr/TiAlN films prepared by plasma-enhanced magnetron sputtering

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Zr interlayer on the structure and mechanical properties of TiAlN films, which were deposited on the M2 high-speed steel substrates by means of plasma-enhanced magnetron sputtering. The result shows that the crystal orientation of Zr/TiAlN films is similar to that of single-layered TiAlN films, but the difference is that AlN(111) of Zr/TiAlN films disappears completely. With respect to Zr interlayer, the texture coefficient of Zr/TiAlN films is approximately 1. Zr/TiAlN films exhibit a compact isometric structure, which is distinctly different from the columnar structure existing in the single-layered TiAlN films and Ti/TiAlN films. The hardness and H3/E*2 of Zr/TiAlN films are, respectively, enhanced to be 36.6 GPa and 0.147. With a few cracks emerging around the indention, the adhesion strength of TiAlN films is obviously advanced by adding Zr metal interlayer.