Microstructure and tribological properties of Cu-Zn/TiN multilayers fabricated by dual magnetron sputtering

Metal/nitride multilayers have attracted much interest due to their superior features such as high hardness and good wear resistance. In this work, the microstructure and tribological properties of Cu-Zn/TiN multilayers with nm and sub-μm bilayer periods fabricated by magnetron sputtering are investigated. Delamination occurs when the individual TiN layers are too thin and the Cu-Zn sublayers are thick. Cu (111) and TiN (002) growth orientation have been found in the multilayers. The wear results show that Cu-Zn/TiN multilayers can offer good wear resistance. The wear resistance is improved with larger Cu-Zn content and bilayer periods. When the t_Cu-Zn:t_TiN ratios are 6:1, the wear resistance of the multilayers is improved significantly with increasing the periods and the film shows longer punch through time than that with t_Cu-Zn:t_TiN ratios of about 1:1. The hardness of multilayers is better than that of the steel substrate, but little influence has been found on the hardness with changing the t_Cu-Zn:t_TiN ratios or the bilayer periods.