Wüest M. 51 Wykes M. 82 Yamaguchi M. 17 Ybarra G. 129 Yubero F ...

JUNE 28 WEDNESDAY MORNING
JS2-WeM-OR.4 HARDNESS AND TRIBOLOGY MEASUREMENTS ON ZrN COAT-
INGS DEPOSITED BY REACTIVE SPUTTERING TECHNIQUE. M. A. Auger. Departamento
de Física. Universidad Carlos III. Avda. de la Universidad, 30. 28911 Leganés, Madrid.
Spain. J. J. Araiza. Unidad Académica de Física. Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas. Avda. Preparatoria
Nº 301. Fracc. Progreso. Zacatecas, Zac. 98000 Méjico. C. Falcony. Departamento de Física.
CINVESTAV-IPN. Aptdo. 14-740. Méjico D.F. 07360 Méjico. O. Sánchez and J.M. Albella. Departamento
de Física e Ingeniería de Superficies. Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid-CSIC. C/
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, 3. 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid. Spain.
Thin films based on transition metal nitrides have been widely used in many applications because of
their interesting properties (mechanical, tribological, chemical stability, etc.) together with their
shiny and golden appearance, which make them highly attractive for applications as protective and
decorative coatings in different industrial and commercial sectors.
In this work, a series of ZrN coatings have been grown in a rf sputtering deposition chamber, where
different ratios of Ar/N 2 gases (5/1, 5/5, 1/5 sccm) were introduced during the process as a reactive
atmosphere. Once deposited, the coatings were thermally treated in a 500 o C oxygen atmosphere trying
to promote the oxynitride formation (ZrNO), which has been proposed as a suitable material for
being used as optical and decorative coatings. Due to the incorporation of oxygen to the matrix of
covalent metal-nitrogen bonds, the electronic properties are modified giving place to interesting
changes in the colour range of the coatings, thus allowing the control of the surface appearance in
decorative applications.
The chemical composition, mechanical and tribological properties of the as-deposited and thermally
treated samples have been measured by different techniques: EDX, nanoindentation and pin-on-disk
techniques respectively. ZrN samples grown at 5 sccm Ar + 1 sccm N 2 showed a composition close
to the stoichiometry, and offered the best mechanical and tribology behaviour. These samples, after
being subjected to the oxygen thermal treatment, improve even more their hardness, making them
more suitable for protective and decorative purposes.
103