Influence of Deposition Temperature on the Film Growth Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Chromium Aluminum Nitride Coatings Prepared by Cathodic Arc Evaporation Technique

Cr-Al-N coatings were deposited onto WC-Co substrates using a cathodic arc evaporation (CAE) system. CAE technique is recognized to be a very useful process for hard coatings because it has many advantages such as high packing density and good adhesion to metallic substrates. In this study, the influence of deposition temperature as a key process parameter on film growth behavior and mechanical properties of Cr-Al-N coatings were systematically investigated and correlated with microstructural changes. From various analyses, the Cr-Al-N coatings prepared at deposition temperature of 450℃ in the CAE process showed excellent mechanical properties with higher deposition rate. The Cr-Al-N coatings with deposition temperature around 450℃ exhibited the highest hardness of about 35 GPa and elastic modulus of 442 GPa. The resistance to elastic strain to failure (H/E ratio) and the index of plastic deformation (H³/E² ratio) were also good values of 0.079 and 0.221 GPa, respectively, at the deposition temperature of 450℃. Based on the XRD, SEM and TEM analyses, the Cr-Al-N coatings exhibited a dense columnar structure with f.c.c. (Cr,Al)N multi-oriented phases in which crystallites showed irregular shapes (50~100nm in size) with many edge dislocations and lattice mismatches.