Titanium nitride coatings are extensively adopted as an intermediate adhesion layer in the cutting tools because of its superior mechanical properties. The interdependence of each process parameter during the deposition of such a coating process is nonlinear, and hence, it becomes a challenge to determine the output responses without carrying out a wide range of experiments. So to minimize the experiments, Taguchi-based L9 design of experiments were employed in this study with three factors and three levels such as Argon (Ar): Nitrogen (N2) gas mixture, Pulsed direct current power, and deposition time for depositing titanium nitride thin films on silicon (100) and tungsten carbide substrates using Pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering technique, where conventional direct current magnetron sputtering cannot be deployed using titanium nitride target. Multiple output responses such as average thickness, surface roughness, nano-hardness, Young’s modulus, wear track deformation, and coefficient of friction were measured by carrying out the systematic investigations, and a single optimum solution was obtained using Grey relational analysis. From the Grey relational analysis, the optimum Ar:N2 gas flow mixture, Pulsed direct current power, and deposition time for improved titanium nitride adhesion layer are 300 W, 10:5 sccm, and 5 min, respectively. Further, grazing incidence x-ray diffractometer profiles of deposited films exhibits (111) and (200) reflections corresponding to the titanium nitride phase, and the morphological analysis also revealed the existence of strongly faceted nano-grains with a triangular-shaped morphology.

中文翻译：

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基于灰色关联分析的脉冲直流磁控溅射氮化钛薄膜多目标优化

氮化钛涂层因其优异的机械性能而被广泛用作切削工具中的中间粘附层。在这种涂层工艺的沉积过程中，每个工艺参数的相互依赖性是非线性的，因此，在不进行广泛实验的情况下确定输出响应成为一项挑战。因此，为了尽量减少实验，本研究采用基于田口的 L9 实验设计，具有三个因素和三个水平，例如氩 (Ar): 氮 (N2) 气体混合物、脉冲直流电源和沉积氮化钛的沉积时间使用脉冲直流磁控溅射技术在硅 (100) 和碳化钨衬底上的薄膜，使用氮化钛靶无法部署传统的直流磁控溅射。通过进行系统研究，测量了平均厚度、表面粗糙度、纳米硬度、杨氏模量、磨损轨迹变形和摩擦系数等多个输出响应，并使用灰色关联分析获得了一个最优解。根据格雷相关分析，改进氮化钛粘附层的最佳 Ar:N2 气流混合物、脉冲直流功率和沉积时间分别为 300 W、10:5 sccm 和 5 分钟。此外，沉积膜的掠入射 x 射线衍射仪轮廓表现出对应于氮化钛相的 (111) 和 (200) 反射，