Influence of Sputtering Power on the Structure and Mechanical Properties of Zr-Nb-N Nanocomposite Coatings Prepared by Multi-Target Magnetron Co-Sputtering

Ternary Zr-Nb-N nanocomposite coatings were synthesized on Si(100) substrates by Multi-target Magnetron Co-sputtering. The structure and chemical composition and binding energy of coatings were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results of measurements of Nano Indenter indicated that the maximum hardness was up to 36 GPa and elastic modulus was close to 425 GPa at the 30 W of Zr power and 120 W of NbN power. The hardest coating also showed the modest residual stress. These Zr-Nb-N coatings appeared to be a promising composite coating system suitable for engineering applications.