Influence of nitrogen flows on structure and properties of TiAlN film prepared by mid-frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering

TiAlN films were deposited by mid-frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering on stainless steel AISI202 and Si wafer P(111).The structure and properties of the TiAlN films were investigated by atomic force microscopy,microXAM-3D surface profiler,X-ray diffraction,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and nanoindentation.With the nitrogen flows increasing the deposition of TiAlN films is decreasing,the Al/Ti ratio increasing first and then decreasing hardly.The films was made up of cubic crystalline TiN.The grain size became smaller and the columnar microstructure became looser.When the nitrogen flow comes to 20mL/min,the film shows the best hardness and bonding force.