Use of silane for the deposition of hard and oxidation resistant Ti–Si–N coatings by a hybrid cathodic arc and chemical vapour process

Abstract Ti–Si–N coatings were deposited on M2 steel substrates using a hybrid cathodic arc and chemical vapour deposition process. Silane was used as the silicon precursor. Whatever the films silicon content, only TiN grains were detected by X-ray diffraction. The mean grain size was estimated to be lower than 10 nm. The silicon content strongly influenced the TiN preferred orientation. Depth sensing indentation showed that films with Si/Ti = 0.08 exhibited a hardness close to 43 GPa. Silicon addition into TiN-based coatings induced an improvement of their oxidation resistance. The film properties were comparable to those obtained for Ti–Si–N coatings deposited using a Ti–Si target, indicating that the hybrid process was suitable for the deposition of hard and oxidation resistant Ti–Si–N coatings.