The results of the simulation of plasma fluxes onto the surface of rotating substrates during the combustion of a vacuum arc of the Cr–Ti–Mo cathode system are presented. The structure and...

The influence of nickel on the structure and properties of Ti-Cr-N ion-plasma coatings obtained by arc-PVD method has been studied. With a nickel content of up to 11.9 at. %, the coating consists of Cr₂N, _{Ti1 – x}Cr_xN, and metallic Ni. Upon further increase in Ni concentration in the coating, intermetallic compound Ni3Ti is formed. The structure of the coatings was studied using the transmission electron microscopy. The coatings of Ti-Cr-N system are characterized by a columnar structure, in the columns of which _{Ti1 - x}Cr_xN and Ti_{1 - y}Cr_yN (x > y) sublayers, being several nanometers thick and containing variable concentration of titanium and chromium, as well as Cr₂N sublayers of about 25 nm are formed due to the complete solubility of TiN and Cr₂N and the planetary rotation of the substrates, resulting in layer-by-layer stacking of the components of the evaporated cathodes. This structure remains intact in coatings of Ti-Cr-N-Ni system with a low nickel concentration (on the order of tenths of at. %). However, upon that, the column size refinement and an increase in biaxial compressive stresses from 6.7 to 9.7 GPa are observed, which results in an increase in hardness from 30 to 42 GPa. The coatings with a high nickel content are characterized by a multilayer architecture with an equiaxed polycrystalline structure of nanograins in layers. As Ni concentration increases, the hardness of the coating decreases to 16.7 GPa, which is associated with an increase in the fraction of relatively soft nickel in the coating and a decrease in macrostresses to -0.6 GPa. Upon that, the wear intensity increases from 3·10^-15 to 5·10^-15 m³/(N·m). The studied coatings of Ti–Cr–N and Ti–Cr–N–Ni systems are resistant to adhesive and cohesive destruction. With an increase in the nickel content upon measuring scratching, the destruction of the coatings occurs exclusively due to the plastic deformation.

In this work, the influence of bias voltage on the structure, composition and physical properties of TiCrN-Mo₂N-Ni arc Physical Vapor Deposition (arc-PVD) coatings were studied. Multilayer structure formed at all applied bias voltage due to planetary rotation of substrates. Thickness of sublayers range from 1 to 32 nm and defined by the plasma flow intensity from evaporators. Monte-Carlo calculation was used to study structure of prepared coatings. According to calculation and analysis of TEM images, sublayers composed by nitrides mixture. All coating characterized by high hardness, which correlated with residual stress of coatings.

The flow, energy distribution and concentrations profiles of Ti ions in cathodic arc are studied by test particle Monte Carlo simulations with considering the mass transfer through the macro-particles filters with inhomogeneous magnetic field. The loss of ions due to their deposition on filter walls was calculated as a function of electric current and number of turns in the coil. The magnetic field concentrator that arises in the bending region of the filters leads to increase the loss of the ions component of cathodic arc. The ions loss up to 80 % of their energy resulted by the paired elastic collisions which correspond to the experimental results. The ion fluxes arriving at the surface of the substrates during planetary rotating of them opposite the evaporators mounted to each other at an angle of 120° characterized by the wide range of mutual overlapping.