Cr₂AlC coatings were synthesized by high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) from Cr₂AlC compound target and subsequent thermal annealing in Ar atmosphere. The effect of HiPIMS duty cycle and substrate bias potential (U_B) on the thin film composition were investigated. All initial Cr-Al-C coatings exhibit similar compositions close to the target stoichiometry, and dense and amorphous structure independently of the duty cycle. Meanwhile, Al deficiencies up to 15% are observed with U_B increasing to −200 V. Based on the measured fraction of ionized metal species flux at the substrate, highly energetic bombardment of the coating with ionized inert gas and metal plasma species causes preferential resputtering of Al. Partially crystallized Cr₂AlC thin films were obtained by annealing as-deposited Cr-Al-C coatings at 550 °C for 4 h. The annealed coating is made of an amorphous inner layer and a crystalline Cr₂AlC outer layer. A higher annealing temperature of 650 °C led to complete transformation from amorphous phase to crystallized Cr₂AlC, and to micro-cracking. These results indicate that the synthesis temperature of MAX phase could be reduced, and the annealing time increased, to obtain protective coatings of Cr₂AlC on heat-sensitive components without alteration of the substrate metallurgical properties.

Cr ₂ AlC涂层是通过高功率脉冲磁控溅射（HiPIMS）由Cr ₂ AlC复合靶材合成的，然后在Ar气氛中进行热退火。研究了HiPIMS占空比和衬底偏置电势（U _B）对薄膜组成的影响。所有初始的Cr-Al-C涂层均具有接近目标化学计量的相似组成，并且密度和非晶态结构与占空比无关。同时，在U _B中观察到的铝缺陷高达15％上升到-200V。基于在基材上测得的离子化金属物质通量的分数，用离子化惰性气体和金属等离子体物质对涂层的高能轰击会导致铝的优先溅射。通过将沉积的Cr-Al-C涂层在550°C下退火4小时，可获得部分结晶的Cr ₂ AlC薄膜。退火涂层由非晶态内层和结晶态Cr ₂ AlC外层制成。较高的650°C退火温度导致从非晶相完全转变为结晶Cr ₂ AlC，并发生微裂纹。这些结果表明，可以降低MAX相的合成温度，并增加退火时间，以获得Cr ₂保护层。AlC在热敏元件上不改变基体的冶金性能。