采用高功率脉冲磁控溅射 (HIPIMS) 技术在N₂流量为10~50 mL/min下沉积TiSiN涂层, 利用台阶仪, XRD, XPS, SPM, SEM, HRTEM和纳米压痕仪对涂层的沉积速率、相结构、成分、形貌和力学性能进行了分析, 并研究了不同N₂流量对等离子体放电特性的影响. 结果表明, 在不同N₂流量下, TiSiN涂层均具有非晶Si₃N₄包裹纳米晶TiN复合结构, 涂层表面粗糙度R_a为0.9~1.7 nm; 随N₂流量的增加, 等离子体的放电程度减弱, 离化率降低, TiSiN涂层沉积速率降低, 其Ti含量逐渐降低, Si含量逐渐增加, 但变化幅度较小; 涂层择优取向随N₂流量的增加发生改变, 晶粒尺寸逐渐增大, 硬度和弹性模量逐渐降低, 涂层硬度最高为(35.25±0.74) GPa.

Over the past years, TiSiN coatings have gained increasing importance in the field of cutting tool coatings due to its enhanced hardness and superior oxidation resistance properties produced by the nanocomposite microstructure of TiN nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous Si₃N₄ matrix. Many methods have been developed to prepare TiSiN coatings, typically named by the DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS) technique and cathodic arc ion plating (AIP), whereas limited studies have been carried out on the deposition of nanocomposite coatings using the high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) approach. The TiSiN coatings were reactively magnetron sputtered in mixed Ar/N₂ precursor gases in a new HIPIMS system with different flow rate of N₂ in this work. The deposition rate, crystal structure, composition, surface morphology, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated systematically by surface profilometer, XRD, XPS, SPM, SEM, HRTEM and nano-indentation and the plasma discharge also was studied. The results show that increasing the flow rate of N₂ caused the decrease of deposition rate as expected, accompanying with the change of preferred orientation from (200) orientation to (220) orientation and the decreased compactness, discharge degree and ionization rate. Contrary to the changes of Ti content, Si content gradually increased with increasing the flow rate of N₂, but their changing scale were small. Combined with XRD and XPS analysis, the results indicated that the coatings were composed of crystalline TiN, amorphous Si₃N₄ and free Si. Besides, free Si disappeared with further increasing the flow rate of N₂. This nanocomposite structure can ultimately be assessed by HRTEM where individual grains and the amorphous regions can be distinguished. In addition, the grain size increased gradually with increasing the flow rate of N₂. Furthermore, both the hardness and elastic modulus linearly decreased with increasing the flow rate of N₂ .