Amorphous boron coatings produced with vacuum arc deposition technology

In principle, boron (B) as a material has many excellent surface properties, including corrosion resistance, very high hardness, refractory properties, and a strong tendency to bond with most substrates. The potential technological benefits of the material have not been realized, because it is difficult to deposit it as coatings. B is difficult to evaporate, does not sputter well, and cannot be thermally sprayed. In this article, first successful deposition results from a robust system, based on the vacuum (cathodic) arc technology, are reported. Adherent coatings have been produced on 1100 Al, CP–Ti, Ti–6Al–4V, 316 SS, hard chrome plate, and 52 100 steel. Composition and thickness analyses have been performed by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Hardness (H) and modules (E) have been evaluated by nanoindentation. The coatings are very pure and have properties characteristic of B suboxides. A microhardness of up to 27 GPa has been measured on a 400-nm-thick film deposited on 52 100 steel, with a corresponding modulus of 180 GPa. This gives a very high value for the H/E ratio, a figure-of-merit for impact resistance of the film. A number of applications are contemplated, including corrosion/abrasion protection for die-casting dies and improved wear resistance for biomedical implants.