Properties of titanium based hard coatings deposited by the cathodic arc method I. Microchemical and microstructural characteristics

TiN, TiC and Ti(C,N) hard coatings were deposited on Si substrates by a cathodic are system. Various investigation techniques (ERDA, XPS, and XRD) were used to analyze the microchemical and microstructural characteristics of the films (surface chemistry, chemical composition, texture) prepared under different deposition conditions.