Study of TiA1N coatings deposited by continuous high power magnetron sputtering (C-HPMS)

TiAlN coatings are widely used in high-speed cutting, machining, and other high-temperature applications. However, owing to the high cathode temperature, large amounts of metal droplets are produced during fabrication in arc ion plating (AIP) and the shadowing effect introduces particles and voids in the coatings. Continuous high-power magnetron sputtering (C-HPMS) can produce high ionization rates similar to high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and high deposition rates similar to AIP. In this work, the morphology, adhesion strength, tribological properties, corrosion resistance, and oxidation resistance of Al-rich TiAlN coatings prepared by C-HPMS are studied systematically. Higher Al and Ti ionization rates and deposition rates are achieved by increasing the power density. The largest deposition rate is 0.45 μm/min and coating hardness is 34.4 GPa. More importantly, no particles are produced as manifested by small surface roughness of 17.8 nm.