Abstract
In our study, we challenged to apply the established techniques to fabricate nano-composite materials using C_<60> to TiAlN, which is harder than TiN. Development of the synthesis method of C_<60>/TiAlN nano-composite must give effective industrial contributions. C_<60>/TiAlN nano-composite thin films with constant thickness 200 nm were deposited on Si(100) water-cooled substrates using by the same method with both Ti and Al sputtering targets for 30 minutes. The concentration of C_<60> molecule powder were changed in the range from 0.5 to 40 wt.%, and the evaporation temperature was controlled in the range of 523-723 K. The structure analyses of all nano-composite thin films showed that XRD patterns indicated only TiAlN crystalline structure, and FT-IR analyses clarified kept of C_<60> molecule structure at all concentration . From these results, the microstructures of C_<60>/TiAlN nano-composite thin films were confirmed to consist of both C_<60> molecule and TiAlN crystalline metallic compoumd. Nano-indentation hardness made clear that the value of the composite films of 2.0 wt.%C_<60>/TiAlN showed the maximum hardness of 20 GPa and this value was increased up to 20 % larger than that of TiAlN thin film. Furthermore, the wear resistance of this composite thin film showed improvement of 4.5 times
