Title: Microstructure and mechanical properties of chromium thin film implanted with nitrogen ions

Authors: Mehdi Manouchehrian; Majid Mojtahedzadeh Larijani; Bahman Banagar

Addresses: Department of Physics, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran ' Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), P.O. Box 31485-498, Karaj, Iran ' Faculty of Basic Science, Department of Physics, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract: Chromium films were deposited on 304 stainless steel using the hollow cathode discharge (HCD) method. The films were implanted with nitrogen ions at fluences of (1-3-5-7-10) × 1017 ions/cm2 and energy of 45 keg. The structure and surface topography of the implanted films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The mechanical properties of the implanted films were investigated for micro-hardness, friction coefficient, and wear resistance. XRD results showed that fluencies of up to 7 × 1017 ions/cm2 did not cause formation of a CrN phase, but at 10 × 1017 ions/cm2, CrN and Cr2N phases were formed. AFM images indicated that increasing grain size increased roughness. As fluence increased, hardness and Young's modulus increased because of the formation the CrN and Cr2N phases. The friction coefficient results showed that, as fluence increased, the friction coefficient decreased. The results showed that increasing the fluence of nitrogen ion implantation changed the type of wear from abrasion to soft.

Keywords: implantation; friction coefficient; microhardness; X-ray diffraction; XRD; atomic force microscopy; AFM; microstructure; mechanical properties; chromium thin films; nitrogen ions; stainless steel; thin film deposition; wear resistance; Young's modulus.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSURFSE.2015.072060

International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering, 2015 Vol.9 No.5, pp.407 - 414

Received: 27 Mar 2014
Accepted: 12 Sep 2014

Published online: 30 Sep 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article