Evaluation of the adhesion of TiN films using nanoindentation and scratch testing

Abstract The scratch test method is applied to the coated sample using a diamond indenter. This sample is displaced at a constant speed and certain load damage occurs along the scratch path. Using a nanoindentation and nanoscratch technique, the mechanical properties of physically vapour-deposited films were investigated experimentally and numerically. In order to evaluate the microhardness and adhesive properties of thin films, we applied a nanoindentation and scratch test experimentally. The TiN films were deposited on silicon wafers at a thickness of about 1.2 μm by physical vapour deposition. The elastic stress distribution was calculated on the coating material for different loads, friction coefficients and directions using three-dimensional finite-element models. A FORTRAN computer program was developed for the study. The coating material was assumed to be a homogeneous, isotropic and infinite body. This paper compares the measured critical load and calculated critical load for different directions using the scratch test and finite-element method respectively. It has been seen that agreement is reasonably good.