Chemical vapor deposition of ZrN using in situ produced ZrCl4 as a precursor

ZrN is considered a promising material for high performance coatings of various tools, due to its outstanding mechanical properties. To generate ZrN layers, ZrCl4, a precursor, is effortlessly produced by the reaction of metallic Zirconium with HCl under elevated temperature, utilizing H-2 as a carrier gas. In a subsequent CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) reactor the ZrCl4 reacts with NH3, forming ZrN coatings. By varying the experimental conditions, such as the H-2 and NH3 gas flow, as well as addition of N-2 to the reaction gas, the influence on coating thickness, surface morphology and crystal structure of the generated coatings was investigated. Furthermore, the effects of various deposition temperatures in addition to positional differences of the hardmetal samples in the coating reactor were explored. Ultimately, the generated samples were analyzed by evaluation of coating thickness, light optical microscopy as well as SEM, EDX and XRD measurements.