Comparative study of titanium carbide and nitride coatings grown by cathodic vacuum arc technique

Titanium nitride (TiN), titanium carbide (TiC) thin films and TiC/TiN bilayers have been deposited on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates by plasma assisted physical vapor deposition technique - reactive pulsed vacuum arc method. The coatings were characterized in terms of crystalline structure, microstructure and chemical nature by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. Tribological behavior was investigated using ball on disc technique. The average coefficient of friction was measured, showing lower values for the TiN/TiC bilayer. Dynamic wear curves were performed for each coating, observing a better wear resistance for TiN/TiC bilayers, compared to TiN and TiC monolayers. On the other hand, the TiCN formation in the TiN/TiC bilayer was observed, being attributed to the interdiffusion between TiN and TiC at the interface. Moreover, the substrate temperature influence was analysing observing a good behavior at TS = 115 °C.