Investigation of the Al-Mo-B(CN) Coatings Deposited Using Magnetron Sputtering of Al-Mo-B4C Target Produced by Detonation Spray Coating

In this work, a metal–ceramic composite target for magnetron sputtering was manufactured by a robotic complex for detonation spraying of coatings equipped with a multi-chamber detonation accelerator. The powder composition (30Mo-30Al-40B4C) was sprayed onto the copper plate base of the composite target cathode. The obtained cathode target with Al-Mo-B4C coating (thickness 280–300 μm) was used to deposit the Al-Mo-B(CN) coating (DC mode) on flat specimens of AISI 316 steel and silicon using equipment for magnetron sputtering UNICOAT 200. The Al-Mo-B4C coating has a lamella-type structure with inclusions of boron carbide particles. The structure and morphology of the coatings were studied using methods of optical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Mechanical and tribological properties of the Al-Mo-B(CN) thin coatings were studied using a nanoindenter, a scratch tester, and a tribometer under a fluid-free friction regime at room temperature. The Al-Mo-B(CN) coating (thickness ~1 μm) exhibited a dense homogeneous fine-grained design without columnar elements and had an amorphous structure. The formation of the MoB2 and AlN phase with an admixture of oxygen in the form of aluminum oxide, molybdenum oxide, and boron oxide was determined using XPS analysis. The Al-Mo-B(CN) coating possessed a hardness of 13 GPa, an elasticity modulus of 114 GPa, an elastic recovery of 45%, a friction coefficient of 0.8 against a steel 100 Cr6 ball, and an adhesion strength of 11 N.