• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.730-734
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• 2005

Cr-Al-Si-N coatings were deposited on WC-Co substrates by a hybrid coating system of arc ion plating and DC magnet :on sputtering technique in $N_2/Ar$ mixture. The Cr-tll-Si-N coatings were synthesized with different Si contents. Their microstructure and mechanical properties were systematically investigated. The average size of crystallites largely decreases with the increase of Si content compared with Cr-Al-N. The microhardness of Cr-Al-Si-N coatings largely increases from 24 to 55 GPa. The enhanced hardness is believed to originate from the microstructural change by the fine composite microstructure of Cr-Al-N coatings with Si addition. The average friction coefficient of Cr-Al-Si-N coatings decreases from 0.84 to 0.45 with increasing Si content up to $16\;at.\%$.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.339-344
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• 2017

Highly corrosion resistance performance of CrAlSiN coatings were obtained by applying ultrathin $Al_2O_3$ thin films using atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. CrAlSiN coatings were prepared on Cr adhesion layer/SUS304 substrates by a hybrid coating system of arc ion plating and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) method. And, ultrathin $Al_2O_3$ passivation layer was deposited on the CrAlSiN/Cr adhesion layer/SUS304 sample to protect CrAlSiN coatings by encapsulating the whole surface defects of coating using ALD. Here, the high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) analysis revealed that the ALD $Al_2O_3$ thin films uniformly covered the inner and outer surface of CrAlSiN coatings. Also, the potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization test revealed that the corrosion protection properties of CrAlSiN coatings/Cr/SUS304 sample was greatly improved by ALD encapsulation with 50 nm-thick $Al_2O_3$ thin films, which implies that ALD-$Al_2O_3$ passivation layer can be used as an effect barrier layer of corrosion.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.139-143
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• 2021

Cr-Al-N coatings were deposited onto WC-Co substrates using a cathodic arc evaporation (CAE) system. CAE technique is recognized to be a very useful process for hard coatings because it has many advantages such as high packing density and good adhesion to metallic substrates. In this study, the influence of deposition temperature as a key process parameter on film growth behavior and mechanical properties of Cr-Al-N coatings were systematically investigated and correlated with microstructural changes. From various analyses, the Cr-Al-N coatings prepared at deposition temperature of 450℃ in the CAE process showed excellent mechanical properties with higher deposition rate. The Cr-Al-N coatings with deposition temperature around 450℃ exhibited the highest hardness of about 35 GPa and elastic modulus of 442 GPa. The resistance to elastic strain to failure (H/E ratio) and the index of plastic deformation (H³/E² ratio) were also good values of 0.079 and 0.221 GPa, respectively, at the deposition temperature of 450℃. Based on the XRD, SEM and TEM analyses, the Cr-Al-N coatings exhibited a dense columnar structure with f.c.c. (Cr,Al)N multi-oriented phases in which crystallites showed irregular shapes (50~100nm in size) with many edge dislocations and lattice mismatches.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.473-479
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• 2017

CrN coatings have been used as protective coatings for cutting tools, forming tools, and various tribological machining applications because these coatings have high hardness. Cr-Al-N coatings have been investigated to improve the properties of CrN coatings. Cr-Al-N coatings were fabricated by a hybrid physical vapor deposition method consisting of unbalanced magnetron sputtering and arc ion plating with different working pressure and substrate bias voltage. The phase analysis of the composition was performed using XRD (x-ray diffraction). Cr-Al-N coatings were grown with textured CrN phase and (111), (200), and (220) planes. The adhesion strength of the coatings tested by scratch test increased. The friction coefficient and removal rate of the coatings were measured by a ball-on-disk test. The friction coefficient and removal rate of the coatings decreased from 0.46. to 0.22, and from $2.00{\times}10^{-12}m^2/N$ to $1.31{\times}10^{-13}m^2/N$, respectively, with increasing bias voltage. The tribological properties of the coatings increased with increasing substrate bias voltage.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2024

For this study, CrAlN multilayer coatings were deposited on SKD61 substrates using a multi-arc ion plating technique. The structural characteristics of the CrAlN multilayer coatings were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Additionally, the adhesion of the coatings was assessed through scratch testing, and the mechanical strength was evaluated using nanoindentation and tribometric tests for frictional properties. The results show that the CrAlN multilayer coatings possess a uniform and dense structure with excellent mechanical strength. Hardness measurements indicated that the CrAlN coatings have high hardness values, and both the coating adhesion and wear resistance were found to be improved compared to CrN. The addition of aluminum is anticipated to contribute to enhanced durability and wear resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.511-517
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• 2017

With different working pressures and substrate biases, Cr-Al-N coatings were deposited by hybrid physical vapor deposition (PVD) method, consisting of unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering and arc ion plating (AIP) processes. Cr and Al targets were used for the arc ion plating and the sputtering process, respectively. Phase analysis, and composition, binding energy, and microstructural analyses were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. Surface droplet size of Cr-Al-N coatings was found to decrease with increasing substrate bias. A decrease of the deposition rate of Cr-Al-N films was expected due to the increase of substrate bias. The coatings were grown with textured CrN phase and (111), (200), and (220) planes. X-ray diffraction data show that all Cr-Al-N coatings shifted to lower diffraction angles due to the addition of Al. The XPS results were used to determine the $Cr_2N$, CrN, and (Cr,Al)N binding energies. The compositions of the Cr-Al-N films were measured by XPS to be Cr 23.2~36.9 at%, Al 30.1~40.3 at%, and N 31.3~38.6 at%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.128-129
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• 2007

Cr-Al-N, Cr-Si-N 그리고 Cr-Al-Si-N 코팅막을 WC-Co 모재위에 AIP법과 DC 마그네트론 스퍼터링 법을 결합한 하이브리드 시스템을 이용하여 합성하였으며, Si함량에 따른 Cr-Al-Si-N 코팅막의 미세구조, 기계적 특성과 마찰 거동에 관해 비교 연구하였다. Cr-Si-N(${\sim}35GPa$)과 Cr-Al-Si-N(${\sim}55GPa$) 코팅막의 경도값은 CrN(${\sim}23GPa$)과 Cr-Al-N(${\sim}25GPa$) 코팅막과 비교하여 각각 증가하였고, CrN(${\sim}0.50$)과 Cr-Al-N(${\sim}0.84$)의 평균 마찰계수는 Si 함량이 9 at.% 일때, Cr-Si-N(${\sim}0.30$)과 Cr-Al-Si-N(${\sim}0.57$)으로 각각 감소하였다.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.257-263
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• 2012

CrN/AlN multilayer coatings with various bilayer periods in the range of 1.8 to 7.4 nm were synthesized using a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering method. Their crystalline structure, chemical compositions and mechanical properties have been investigated with Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, atomic force microscopy, nanoindentation, scratch tests. The properties of the multilayer coatings varied strongly depending upon the magnitude of the bilayer period. The multilayer coating with a bilayer period of 1.8 nm showed the maximum hardness and an elastic modulus of approximately 37.6 and 417 GPa, respectively, which was 1.54 times higher than the hardness predicted by the rule of mixture from the CrN and AlN coatings. The hardness of the multilayer coating increased as the bilayer period decreased, i.e. as the rotation speed increased. The Hall-Petch type relationship, hardness being related to (1/periodicity)$^{-1/2}$, suggested by Lehoczky was confirmed for the CrN/AlN multilayer coatings with bilayer period close to the 5-10 nm range. With decreasing bilayer period, the surface morphology of the films became rougher and the critical load of films for adhesion strength gradually decreased.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.580-586
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• 2016

Cr-Si-Al-N coating with different Si content were deposited by hybrid physical vapor deposition (PVD) method consisting of unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering and arc ion plating (AIP). The deposition temperature was $300^{\circ}C$, and the gas ratio of $Ar/N_2$ were 9:1. The CrSi alloy and aluminum targets used for arc ion plating and sputtering process, respectively. Si content of the CrSi alloy targets were varied with 1 at%, 5 at%, and 10 at%. The phase analysis, composition and microstructural analysis performed using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) including energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. All of the coatings grown with textured CrN phase (200) plane. The thickness of the Cr-Si-Al-N films were measured about $2{\mu}m$. The friction coefficient and removal rate of films were measured by a ball-on-disk test under 20N load. The friction coefficient of all samples were 0.6 ~ 0.8. Among all of the samples, the removal rate of CrSiAlN (10 at% Si) film shows the lowest values, $4.827{\times}10^{-12}mm^3/Nm$. As increasing of Si contents of the CrSiAlN coatings, the hardness and elastic modulus of CrSiAlN coatings were increased. The morphology and composition of wear track of the films was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy, respectively. The surface energy of the films were obtained by measuring of contact angle of water drop. Among all of the samples, the CrSiAlN (10 at% Si) films shows the highest value of the surface energy, 41 N/m.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2016.11a
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• pp.105-105
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• 2016

Recently, high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) has attracted considerable attentions due to its high potential for industrial applications. By pulsing the sputtering target with high power density and short duration pulses, a high plasma density and high ionization of the sputtered species can be obtained. HIPIMS has exhibited several merits such as increased coating density, good adhesion, microparticle-free and smooth surface, which make the HIPIMS technique desirable for synthesizing hard coatings. However, hard coatings present intrinsic defects (columnar structures, pinholes, pores, discontinuities) which can affect the corrosion behavior, especially when substrates are active alloys like steel or in a wear-corrosion process. Atomic layer deposition (ALD), a CVD derived method with a broad spectrum of applications, has shown great potential for corrosion protection of high-precision metallic parts or systems. In ALD deposition, the growth proceeds through cyclic repetition of self-limiting surface reactions, which leads to the thin films possess high quality, low defect density, uniformity, low-temperature processing and exquisite thickness control. These merits make ALD an ideal candidate for the fabrication of excellent oxide barrier layer which can block the pinhole and other defects left in the coating structure to improve the corrosion protection of hard coatings. In this work, CrN/Al2O3/CrN multilayered coatings were synthesized by a hybrid process of HIPIMS and ALD techniques, aiming to improve the CrN hard coating properties. The influence of the Al2O3 interlayer addition, the thickness and intercalation position of the Al2O3 layer in the coatings on the microstructure, surface roughness, mechanical properties and corrosion behaviors were investigated. The results indicated that the dense Al2O3 interlayer addition by ALD lead to a significant decrease of the average grain size and surface roughness and greatly improved the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the CrN coatings. The thickness increase of the Al2O3 layer and intercalation position change to near the coating surface resulted in improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The mechanism can be explained by that the dense Al2O3 interlayer acted as an excellent barrier for dislocation motion and diffusion of the corrosive substance.