Tribology Performance of ZrCN-Ti and ZrCN-W Films

For many years, Titanium nitride (TiN) is the most generally used film in every field of applications. Another transition metal Zirconium (Zr), which belongs to the same periodic element group as Ti, is also an attractive material. There have been a lot of research reports with regard to Zirconium nitride (ZrN). However, knowledge on Zirconium carbonitride (ZrCN) is still limited. This paper presents initial experimental results on ZrCN films obtained using an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The main purpose of this study is to understand the effects of flow ratio of the reactive gas, nitrogen gas/acetylene (N₂/C₂H₂), and Ti and W additives on the hardness and wear performance of ZrCN series of films. The results showed that the hardness and wear performance of ZrCN films increased with decreasing N₂/C₂H₂ ratio when the amount of reactive gas flow rate was kept constant. The addition of Ti and W led to a significant enhancement in wear performance of ZrCN film, as well as its hardness. The enhancement by Ti additive was greater than that by W additive. ZrCN, with and without Ti/W additives, showed much better wear behavior than TiN.