| Titanium Aluminum Nitride films were deposited on the high speed steel by Biased Activated Reactive Evaportation. Effect of the substrate temperature and nitrogen pressure on the formation, structure, and properties of the films was investigated. Phase identification, preferred orientation, lattice parameter, and effective crystallite size were studied with X-ray diffraction line broading, while the surface and interface of films were observed with a scanning electron microscope. Microhardness and impact adhesion were also measured. Only Ti₂AIN single phase existed below the nitrogen pressure of 4 × 10^(-4) Torr, while Ti₂AIN and Ti_(0.5)Al_(0.5)N coexisted above that pressure. Tendency of having(111) preferred orientation decreased with increasing nitrogen pressure. Effective crysallite size increased with increasing nitrogen pressure and substate temperature. The lower the nitrogen pressure, the finer the film surface morphology. Films have their maximum microhardness of 2500 KHN at the nitrogen pressure of 1×10^(-3) Torr. Impact adhesion property was enhanced with increasing nitrogen pressure. |
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