R. F. magnetron sputtered tungsten carbide thin films

Abstract

Thin films of tungsten carbide have been deposited on stainless steel substrates held at 500° C by r.f. reactive magnetron sputtering in two different modes of introducing argon and acetylene gases called normal and high rate mode. A single phase fcc-WC is formed in the normal mode whereas a mixture of A-15-W3C, hexagonal-WC and graphitic- and diamond-carbon is found in the high rate mode. A microhardness value as high as 3200 kgf/mm² (as compared to the bulk value of 1800 kgf/mm²) is obtained in the film deposited by normal mode.