Wear resistant Tatanium Nitride(TiN) films were deposited on steels (KS SKH9) by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using a gaseous mixture of $TiCl_4$, $N_2$, $H_2$, and Ar.
Experiments were performed systemetically using the $L_{27}(3^{13})$ orthogonal array table of the experimental design. In the experimental design, deposition temperature, system pressure, RF power density, $TiCl_4$ inlet fraction, $N_2$ inlet fraction, and $H_2$ inlet fraction were considered as deposition variables and the effects of these variables on the deposition rate, texture coefficient, and residual chlorine content were investigated. The analysis of variance for experimental results indicated that deposition temperature, RF power density, and $TiCl_4$ were major variables in the TiN deposited by PECVD. The optimum deposition condition of PECVD-TiN was defined.
The TiN films deposited by PECVD using $TiCl_4$ as source of Ti contained much chlorine and its content affected mechanical properties considerably.
As residual chlorine content decreased, TiN films had a high density (4.7g/㎤) and good mechanical properties(Vickers microhardness; 2050kg/㎟, critical load of scratch adhesion test; 40N). From the results of the pin-on-disc wear test, the wear resistance of the TiN deposited films varied twice with residual chlorine contents. And wear resistance of the TiN deposited films were improved about five times than that of non-coated sipecimen.
