Hardness of zirconium diboride films deposited on titanium substrates

The study was aimed at the hardness determination of thin ZrB2 films produced on pure titanium substrate by pulsed laser deposition and electron beam deposition techniques. The former method allows the deposition of dense crystalline films, being textured preferentially along the (1 1 0) direction, whereas the electron beam deposition allows the production of compact X-ray amorphous films. The thickness of the films was about 200 and 500 nm, respectively. Vickers hardness values obtained by microindentation technique are close to those of bulk ZrB2 ceramics. Pulsed laser deposited ZrB2 films are harder ranging from 21 to 27 GPa than the electron beam deposited films ranging from 19 to 23 GPa. An increase in the substrate preheating temperature leads to a decrease in hardness value.