Tailoring the Hybrid Magnetron Sputtering Process (HiPIMS and dcMS) to Manufacture Ceramic Multilayers: Powering Conditions, Target Materials, and Base Layers.

The mechanical and wear behavior of CrN/CrAlN multilayers were improved by tailoring the experimental conditions of a hybrid magnetron sputtering process based on a high-power impulse (HiPIMS) and two direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS) power supplies. To this end, the influence of the base layer and of the combination of Cr and CrAl targets, which were switched to the dcMS and HiPIMS power supplies in different configurations, were investigated with respect to the growth of ceramic CrN/CrAlN multilayers onto commercial gas-nitrided diesel piston rings. The microstructure, grain morphology, and mechanical properties were evaluated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and instrumented nanoindentation.

Hybrid magnetron sputtering of ceramic superlattices for application in a next generation of combustion engines.

A hybrid magnetron sputtering process (dcMS/HiPIMS) was developed to manufacture nanostructured CrN/CrAlN multilayers, motivated by improving the low-emission efficiency when applied on gas-nitrided diesel piston rings of a next-generation of combustion engines. In order to improve the mechanical, tribological, and corrosion behavior of the multilayers, the hybrid dcMS/HiPIMS process was designed by selecting the optimal sputtering procedure applied to AISI 440 base steel. The effect of substrate bias and carousel rotational speed on the phase composition, crystallographic texture, residual stresses, surface roughness, coating periodicity and densification, instrumented hardness, elastic modulus, as well as wear and corrosion resistance was determined.