Abstract:
An empirical relationship between the grain diameter of ternary nitride coatings and the nitrogen deposition pressure
was formulated in the present study. A linear relationship was established between the reciprocals of the square roots of
the grain diameter of the coatings and the nitrogen deposition pressure. It was further confirmed that the equation
parameter, md, of the empirical relationship was linearly proportional to the primary sputter yield of the coating
materials. With defined discharge conditions and sputter characteristics of the target materials. the values of md, for
different coatings can be calculated and the grain size of the coating structure at different nitrogen deposition pressures
can be determined.
