Evolution of Structural and Mechanical Properties of TiN Films on SS 304 LN

We investigate the effect of orientation and residual stress on mechanical properties of reactive magnetron‐sputtered TiN thin films on SS 304 LN with a function of substrate temperature. All these films are polycrystalline with a preferred orientation (200). Residual stress of these films were calculated by sin 2 Ψ technique and found to be in the range of −2.6 to −4.5 GPa. The hardness and modulus of these films ranged between 24–29 GPa and 326–388 GPa, respectively. Temperature‐dependent orientation change is clearly observed and this in turn influenced the residual stress. Hardness and modulus of these films exhibited dependence on the orientation and residual stress.