TiCxN1-x films with x ranging from 0 to 1 were grown by arc evaporation by varying the flow ratio between the reactive gases. The substrates were cemented carbide inserts (WC-6 wt.% Co) which were negatively biased at 400 V, resulting in a deposition temperature of similar to 550 degrees C. The film composition, as measured by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, was found to vary almost linearly with the gas flow ratio. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy in combination with X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the films were of single-phase NaCl-structure with a dense columnar microstructure. The intrinsic stress analyzed using the XRD sin(2)psi method, was found to have a maximum of - 5.9 GPa in the composition range of 0.4 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 0.7 which correlated with a maximum in XRD peak broadening due to inhomogeneous strains. The hardness and Young's modulus of the as-deposited TiCxN1-x films were measured by the nanoindentation technique. A maximum in hardness of 45 GPa was found at the same composition range (0.4 Ix I 0.7) as the intrinsic stress maximum. The hardness for x = 0 (TiN) and x = 1 (TiC) were found to be 28 and 36 GPa, respectively. The Young's modulus was constant similar to 610 GPa for films with compositions up to x = 0.6, thereafter it decreased to 540 GPa at x = 1. The increase in intrinsic stress with increasing carbon content is suggested to be due to increased stability of defects created from the collision cascade or/and by a change in the defect structure itself. The fact that hardness showed a maximum at the same composition as residual stress and FWHM indicates that obstruction on dislocation movement has a major influence on the hardness of these films. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

The influence of residual stress state and composition on the mechanical properties of arc evaporated TiCxN1-x thin films been investigated. By controlling the flow ratios of the reactive gases, N2 and CH4, films with compositions x = 0 (TIN), x to approximately 0.15, and x to approximately 0.45 have been grown on cemented carbide substrates. The residual stress state was altered through variations in the negative substrate bias over the range 20 V=Vs=820 V. The intrinsic stress, sint, measured by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) sin2? method was compressive and increased with decreasing Vs and increasing x. The latter behavior is suggested to be due to increased effective stability of defect complexes when the carbon content increases. Maximum stress level was between -6 and -7 GPa and limited by interior cracking of the films. The increase in intrinsic stress was accompanied by an increase in XRD peak broadening due to inhomogeneous strains. The hardness, H, and Young's modulus, E, of as-deposited films were measured using the nanoindentation technique. Apparently linear correlations between sint and H were found for each film composition where H increased with x. The maximum H, 44 GPa, was thus obtained for the x to approximately 0.45 film with sint = -5.5 GPa. The lowest hardness for this composition was 35 GPa for a film with sint = -2.7 GPa. For the TiN films, a similar variation in hardness of 33 GPa at sint = -5.8 to 26 GPa at sint = -1.2 GPa was obtained. E was constant at approximately 610 GPa for most of the films, with a slight decrease in the films with the lowest sint values.