Influence of bias voltage on properties of AlCrN coatings prepared by cathodic arc deposition

AlCrN coatings were prepared by vacuum cathodic arc deposition. This low-temperature technique has been chosen due to its versatility, allowing the industrial up-scaling. In this study, the attention was focused on the correlation of the bias voltage with the resulting mechanical-tribological properties. For this purpose, the bias voltage was varied from 0 to -150 V. Indeed, the variation of grain sizes from 24 to 16 nm as well as the residual stresses from -0.68 to -8.94 GPa lead to obtain different mechanical-tribological properties. In this context, the sample deposited at -100 V exhibited an enhanced hardness (50 +/- 2 GPa) and an acceptable wear resistance. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.