Tribological properties of Ti-Al-N films prepared by plasma-based ion implantation mixing

Ti-Al-N films with different atomic proportions of titanium to aluminum were prepared by plasma-based ion implantation mixing. In the process, the titanium and aluminum films were deposited alternately by unbalanced magnetron sputtering at first. Then nitrogen ions were implanted to the samples by plasma-based ion implantation (PBII). The structure of the films was analyzed by glancing X-ray diffraction (GXRD). The results show that there are (Ti, Al)N and crystalline aluminum in the mixed films. The fraction of (Ti, Al)N increases and the fraction of crystalline aluminum decreases with decreasing content of aluminum in the films. The diffraction patterns of crystalline titanium were not detected from the spectrum of GXRD. The microhardness of the mixed films has a close relationship with film configuration and phase component. The mixed film with lower aluminum content has no crystalline aluminum but a lot of (Ti, Al)N, and it has higher microhardness and high wear resistance.