Titanium-zirconium nitride (TiZrN) thin films were synthesized at different values of substrate temperatures (TS) by the pulsed cathodic arc deposition technique. A microstructural analysis extracted from the X-ray powder diffraction pattern (XRPD) was carried out in order to identify the dependence of both the crystallite size and the microstrain as a function of TS. The residual stress state was also determined by means of the XRPD assuming an isotropic behavior of the material depending on Young´s modulus and the Poisson coefficient. The morphology analysis was determined by means of atomic force microscopy in terms of the grain size evolution with substrate temperature during deposition. The nanohardness values were obtained by nanoindentation measurements and finally the synthesis-property relationship were obtained by using the microstructural information. |