Abstract: Ti-B-N film was deposited on W18Cr4 V high speed steels by using N ion bombardment on an EB-ion plating Ti-B film. It was found that Ti, B and N in the film are homogeneous, but there exists an extended diffusion zone at the film / substrate interface on the basis of the results of IPMA, EPMA and TEM. The boron content of the film is 9.5 at.%, as given by nuclear reaction analysis. The ratio of nitrogen to titanium of the film is about 0.94, as given by EPMA. The width of a high N concentration region in the Ti-B-N film fowned by N ion bombardment of a Ti-B film is about 100 nm; N and Ti penetrates into the substrate, resulting in a wide interfacial diffusion zone. The width of the diffusion zone obtained with TEM and EDAX is about 20 nm. μ-diffraction patterns of the interface show that FeTi, Fe_2 Ti, and Ti_2N existin the interfacial diffusion zone. TEM observation of film and interface show a dense and fine nano-crystalline structure of the film and a dense close interfactal bonding of the film to substrate. Electron diffraction patterns and the values of electrun binding energy by XPS show that the film consists mainly of fcc TiN, with dispersed simple orthorhombic TiB, cubic BN and simple hexagonal Ti-B-N phases. The results show that the N ion hombardment extends the film / substrate interfacial diffusion zone and stimulates chemical reaction both in the film and interface.

Key words: microstructure, Ti-B-N film, N ion bombardment, interface