(Cr 1-x Al x )N Coating Deposition by Short-Pulse High-Power Dual Magnetron Sputtering.

The paper deals with the (Cr 1-x Al x )N coating containing 17 to 54 % Al which is deposited on AISI 430 stainless steel stationary substrates by short-pulse high-power dual magnetron sputtering of Al and Cr targets. The Al/Cr ratio in the coating depends on the substrate position relative to magnetrons. It is shown that the higher Al content in the (Cr 1-x Al x )N coating improves its hardness from 17 to 28 GPa. Regardless of the Al content, the (Cr 1-x Al x )N coating manifests a low wear rate, namely (4.1-7.8) × 10 -9 and (3.9-5.3) × 10 -7 mm 3 N -1 m -1 in using metallic (100Cr6) and ceramic (Al 2 O 3 ) counter bodies, respectively. In addition, this coating possesses the friction coefficient 0.4-0.7 and adhesive strength quality HF1 and HF2 indicating good interfacial adhesion according to the Daimler-Benz Rockwell-C adhesion test.