• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.329-334
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• 2003

Microstructure and mechanical properties of $(Ti_{1-x}Alx)N$ films, Produced by the the Ion Beam Sputtering(IBS) method, were studied by changing the Ti, Al contents. The compositions of films determined by RBS were $(Ti_{0.75}Al_{0.25})N$, $(Ti_{0.61}Al_{0.39})N$ and $(Ti_{0.5}Al_{0.5})N$, and XPS binding energies of Ti2P, A12p and N1s shifted to higher energies than those of pure Ti, Al and N, which indicated that nitrides were formed. XRD results indicated that the NaCl structure for $$x{\leq_-}0.39$$ changed into amorphous structure at x=0.5. For films with $$x{\leq_-}0.39$$, the lattice parameter decreased in proportion to the Al content. Nanoindentation hardness value were above HV=3300 at Al content up to x=0.39. However, the hardness of films with x=0.5 abruptly decreased to HV=1800, and this lower hardness values were attributed to different crystal structure. Critical load(Lc) in scratch test showed 23N at x=0.25, 22N at x=0.39 and 22N at x=0.5, which indicated that films with different Al contents showed similar adhesion behavior.