Studies of PVD Interfaces Generated by Ti Ions in a Steered Arc Discharge

A critical stage of the combined steered arc and unbalanced magnetron process is the titanium ion etch which improves the adhesion of the TiN coating. This study uses Conversion Electrom Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) to investigate the phases that are formed when steel substrates are given a metal ion etch as a pretreatment prior to the deposition of ceramic coating of the type TiC/N. To detect iron containing phases of a thickness in the order of nanometers it has been necessary to enrich the substrates with the Mössbauer isotope ⁵⁷Fe. The enriched substrates have been treated by a range of Ti ion etch processes and then characterised by CEMS. This technique has identified a number of phases, including the FeTi phase.