Changes in the structural state and properties of vacuum-arc coatings based on high-entropy alloy TiZrHfNbTa under the influence of nitrogen pressure and bias potential at deposition

Abstract

Complex studies have been carried out on the effect of nitrogen pressure and the negative bias potential on the structure and properties of vacuum-arc nitride coatings based on the high-entropy alloy TiZrHfNbTa. It is defined that the change in pressure during deposition (in the range 0.01...4 mTorr) mainly affects the nitrogen atoms content in the coating. The feed of a negative bias potential to the substrate (Ub = -50...-250 V) makes it possible to control the content of the metallic component using the effect of selective sputtering of atoms in the formation of coatings. Determined, that as the pressure increases the structural state associated with the predominant growth orientation (axial texture) of the crystallites changes. The texture changes in the sequence [311] → [311] + [111] → [111] with increasing pressure for a six-element (TiZrHfVNbTa)N nitride and the texture state changes in the sequence [110] → [110] + [111] → [111] for a five-element (TiZrHfNbTa)N nitride. It is shown that the presence of a bi-textured state in the coating makes it possible to achieve an ultrahard state with a hardness exceeding 50 GPa.