Coated article and method for making said article

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to coated articles and a method for making the coated articles.

2. Description of Related Art

Nitrides, carbides and carbonitrides of transition metals are usually coated on cutting tools or molds due to their high hardness, high wear resistance and good chemical stability. However, the layers coated on cutting tools or molds are also required to have good corrosion resistance and high-temperature resistance.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Many aspects of the coated article and the method for making the coated article can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the coated article and the method. Moreover, in the drawings like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary coated article;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a vacuum sputtering device for fabricating the coated article in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 1 shows a coated article 10 according to an exemplary embodiment. The coated article 10 includes a substrate 11 , and a plurality of molybdenum (Mo) layers 13 and a plurality of titanium-aluminum-nitrogen (Ti—Al—N) layers 15 formed on the substrate 11 . Each Mo layer 13 alternates/interleaves with one Ti—Al—N layer 15 . One of the Mo layers 13 is directly formed on the substrate 11 . Furthermore, one of the Ti—Al—N layers 15 forms the outermost layer of the coated article 10 . The total thickness of the Mo layers 13 and the Ti—Al—N layers 15 may be about 1.2 μm to about 2.4 μm. The total number of the Mo layers 13 may be about 40 layers to about 60 layers. The total number of the Ti—Al—N layers 15 is the same as the total number of Mo layers.

The substrate 11 is made of metal, glass or ceramic.

A vacuum sputtering process may be used to form the Mo layers 13 and the Ti—Al—N layers 15 . Each Mo layer 13 may have a thickness of about 15 nm to about 20 nm. Each Ti—Al—N layer 15 may have a thickness of about 15 nm to about 20 nm. Each Ti—Al—N layer 15 contains by atomic percentage, about 75% to about 82% of titanium, about 15% to about 17% of aluminum and about 1% to about 10% of nitrogen.

FIG. 2 shows a vacuum sputtering device 20 , which includes a vacuum chamber 21 and a vacuum pump 30 connected to the vacuum chamber 21 . The vacuum pump 30 evacuates the vacuum chamber 21 . The vacuum chamber 21 has molybdenum targets 23 , titanium-aluminum alloy targets 24 and a rotary rack (not shown) positioned therein. The rotary rack holding the substrate 11 revolves along a circular path 25 , and the substrate 11 is also rotated about its own axis while being carried by the rotary rack.

A method for making the coated article 10 may include the following steps:

The substrate 11 is pretreated. The pre-treating process may include wiping the surface of the substrate 11 with alcohol and deionized water, to remove impurities such as grease or dirt from the substrate 11 . Then, the substrate 11 is dried.

One of the Mo layers 13 may be vacuum sputtered on the substrate 11 . Vacuum sputtering of the Mo layers 13 is carried out in the vacuum chamber 21 . The substrate 11 is positioned in the rotary rack. The vacuum chamber 21 is evacuated to about 8.0×10 −3 Pa and is heated to a temperature of about 60° C. to about 200° C. Ar is used as the sputtering gas and is fed into the vacuum chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 400 sccm to about 800 sccm. The molybdenum targets 23 are supplied with electrical power of about 10 kw to about 15 kw. A negative bias voltage of about −150 V to about −500 V is applied to the substrate 11 . Deposition of the Mo layer 13 takes about 0.5 min to about 1.0 min.

One of the Ti—Al—N layers 15 is vacuum sputtered on the Mo layer 13 . Vacuum sputtering of the Ti—Al—N layers 15 is carried out in the vacuum chamber 21 . Molybdenum targets 23 are powered off and titanium-aluminum alloy targets 24 are supplied with electrical power of about 8 kw to about 12 kw. Nitrogen is used as the reaction gas and is fed into the vacuum chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 100 sccm to about 200 sccm. The flow rate of Ar, temperature of the vacuum chamber 21 and the negative bias voltage are the same as vacuum sputtering of the Mo layer 13 . Deposition of the Ti—Al—N layer 15 takes about 0.5 min to about 1.0 min

The steps of magnetron sputtering the Mo layer 13 and the Ti—Al—N layers 15 are alternatingly repeated about 40-60 times to form the coated article 10 .

The substrate 11 was made of die steel.

Sputtering to form the Mo layer 13 on the substrate 11 took place, wherein the vacuum chamber 21 was heated to a temperature of about 82° C. Ar was fed into the vacuum chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 400 sccm. The molybdenum targets 23 were supplied with a power of about 10 kw, and a negative bias voltage of about −200 V was applied to the substrate 11 . Deposition of the Mo layer 13 took about 0.5 min The Mo layer 13 had a thickness of about 15 nm.

Sputtering to form the Ti—Al—N layers 15 on the Mo layer 13 took place, wherein N 2 was fed into the vacuum chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 130 sccm. The titanium-aluminum alloy targets 24 were supplied with a power of about 10 kw. Other conditions were substantially the same as vacuum sputtering of the Mo layer 13 . The deposition of the Ti—Al—N layers 15 took about 0.5 min The Ti—Al—N layers 15 had a thickness of about 15 nm.

The step of sputtering the Mo layer 13 was repeated 55 times, and the step of sputtering the Ti—Al—N layers 15 was repeated 55 times.

The substrate 11 was made of die steel.

Sputtering to form the Mo layer 13 on the substrate 11 took place, wherein the vacuum chamber 21 was heated to a temperature of about 82° C. Ar was fed into the vacuum chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 500 sccm. The molybdenum targets 23 were supplied with a power of about 10 kw, and a negative bias voltage of about −200 V was applied to the substrate 11 . Deposition of the Mo layer 13 took about 1.0 min The Mo layer 13 had a thickness of about 20 nm.

Sputtering to form the Ti—Al—N layers 15 on the Mo layer 13 took place, wherein N 2 was fed into the vacuum chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 150 sccm. The titanium-aluminum alloy targets 24 were supplied with a power of about 10 kw. Other conditions were substantially the same as vacuum sputtering of the Mo layer 13 . The deposition of the Ti—Al—N layers 15 took about 1.0 min The Ti—Al—N layers 15 had a thickness of about 20 nm.

The step of sputtering the Mo layer 13 was repeated 55 times, and the step of sputtering the Ti—Al—N layers 15 was repeated 55 times.

The coated article 10 includes a plurality of alternating molybdenum layers 13 and titanium-aluminum-nitrogen layers 15 formed on the substrate, which produces strong interface effect and interlayer coupling, and make the coated article 10 has special properties different from single-layer coatings. The alternating molybdenum layers 13 and titanium-aluminum-nitrogen layers 15 has small grains and the layers are very dense, which improves the corrosion resistance of the coated article 10 . Furthermore, the molybdenum layers 13 have good high-temperature resistance, which improves the high-temperature resistance of the coated article 10 .

It is believed that the exemplary embodiment and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.