Ar聽+聽H₂ plasma etching for improved adhesion of PVD coatings on steel substrates

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• 作者：Harish C. Barshilia ; ^{harish@nal.res.in} ; A. Ananth ; Jakeer Khan ; G. Srinivas
• 关键词：Sputtering ; Ar + H2 plasma cleaning ; Surface modification ; Adhesion ; Substrate roughness ; Nanoscratch
• 刊名：Vacuum
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：83_0042207x
• 类别：ph
• 出版时间：29 February, 2012
• 卷：86
• 期：8
• 页码：1165-1173
• 文件大小：1618 K

摘要

Ar聽+聽H₂ plasma cleaning has been described for the surface modification of the steel substrates, which removes oxides and other contaminants from substrate surface effectively leading to a better adhesion of the physical vapor deposited (PVD) coatings. Approximately 1.1-1.3聽渭m thick TiAlN coatings were deposited on plasma treated (Ar and Ar聽+聽H₂) and untreated mild steel (MS) substrates. A mechanism has been put forward to explain the effect of plasma treatment on the substrate surface based upon the data obtained from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The XPS measurements on untreated and Ar聽+聽H₂ plasma etched MS substrates indicated that the untreated substrate surface mainly consisted of Fe₃O₄, whereas, after etching the concentration of oxides decreased considerably. The FESEM and the AFM results showed changes in the surface morphology and an increase in the substrate roughness as a result of Ar聽+聽H₂ plasma etching. Removal of oxide/contaminants, formation of coarser surface and increased substrate surface roughness as a result of Ar聽+聽H₂ plasma etching facilitate good mechanical interlocking at the substrate surface, leading to a better adhesion of the deposited PVD coatings. The adhesion of TiAlN coating could be increased further by incorporating a very thin Ti interlayer.