Formation and characterization of chromium carbide films deposited using a 90° bend magnetic filtered cathodic vacuum arc system

Deposition of chromium carbides films using a 90° bend filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) system is highly promising for industrial applications, because chromium carbide films uncontaminated by macroparticles exhibit excellent characteristics. Chromium carbide films were synthesized from a Cr target (99.95%) and C2H2/Ar gases, beginning with deposition parameters of the deposition temperature of ambient temperature, 300 and 500 °C and negative bias voltages ranging from − 50 to − 550 V. The microstructure of crystalline chromium carbide was investigated using glancing incident X-ray diffraction and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The atomic concentrations of C and Cr in chromium carbide thin films deposited at various temperatures were measured by AES and the nature of the chemical bonding of the elements was elucidated by XPS. Our findings revealed that the total C–Cr bond contents depended on the deposition temperature. As the substrate bias voltage was increased from − 50 to − 550 V, the phase was transformed from amorphous to crystalline Cr3C2; a crystalline Cr23C6 phase also appeared at higher negative substrate bias voltages (< − 250 V). The effects of the deposition parameters on the formation of chromium carbides were investigated in this study.