Quaternary Cr-V-C-N films were deposited on Si wafers through a hybrid system of arc ion plating and sputtering techniques in an Ar/N 2 /CH 4 gaseous mixture. In this work, the effects of vanadium on the microstructural evolution, mechanical properties and friction mechanism of Cr-V-C-N films were investigated. The results showed that quaternary Cr-V-C-N films consisted of nanosized crystallites of (Cr,V)(C,N) and amorphous VCN phases. The Cr-10?4 at-%V-C-N film possessed the higher hardness value of 34 GPa, compared to the 27 GPa of a Cr(C,N) film. Additionally, the friction coefficients of the Cr-V-C-N films were reduced from 0?38 for the Cr-C-N film to 0?27 for the Cr-10?4 at-%V-C-N film. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analyses also revealed that the amorphous phase VCN phases played a role in reducing the friction coefficients of the films. The a-VCN phase (vanadium rich) was believed to cause a tribochemical reaction with ambient air during the wear process.

Micro-tensile properties of Au thin films were measured using a membrane deflection testing system. During the membrane deflection test, the deflection of the film was measured by an out-of-plane electronic speckle pattern interferometric (ESPI) system. From the measurement, the tensile loads and strains exerted on the membrane film during the deflection of the film could be determined. Quantitative analysis of the phase maps of the ESPI speckle patterns corresponding to the respective different deflection levels provided the deflection distribution along the testing section of the film. Test pieces were fabricated by electromachining process using 0.5 and 1. 0 μm thick Au films which were deposited on the silicon wafer by sputtering technique. Tensile properties, including elastic modulus, yield and tensile strength, were evaluated in the tensile stress-strain curve determined from the load-deflection relation. These properties were compared to those obtained from the micro-tensile tests. It was found that the yield and tensile strengths obtained from the deflection tests were lesser than those from the micro-tensile tests. Furthermore, the thickness effect, showing the increasing tendency of yield strength with decreasing thickness, was experimentally examined.