Microstructure, morphology, adhesion and tribological behavior of sputtered niobium carbide and bismuth films on tool steel

NbC, Bi and Bi/NbC coatings were deposited on AISI M2 steel substrates using unbalanced magnetron sputtering at room temperature with zero bias voltage. Were studied the phase structure, the morphology, the adhesion and the tribological behavior of the three coatings. The niobium carbide film crystallized in the NbC cubic structure, and the bismuth layers had a rhombohedral phase with random orientation. The NbC coating had a smooth surface with low roughness, while the Bi layers on steel and on NbC coating had higher roughness and a morphology composed of large particles. By using a ductile Nb interlayer good adhesion between the NbC coating and the steel substrate was achieved. The Bi coating had better adhesion with the NbC layer than with the steel substrate. The tribological performance of the Bi coating on steel was not satisfactory, but according to the preliminary results, the produced NbC and Bi/NbC coatings have the potential to improve the tribological performance of the steel