Abstract
Hard and wear-resistant protective coatings based on metal nitrides have been used for decades as support for the stable functioning of mechanical instrumentation: cutting tools, gears, and drills. Combining multielement nanocomposite (TiAlSiYN) and nanodimensional multilayer (MoN) concepts of coatings deposition, in turn, ensure the way to tune promising properties and performance. In this paper, the coating was synthesized by the reactive cathodic arc deposition at intensive nitrogen pressure and was studied in the internal structure and composition manner X-ray diffraction and scanning/transmission electron microscopy analyses have revealed the mechanism of coherent growth of fcc TiAlN on fcc γ-Mo2N along (200) plane. Surface and lateral section contained microdroplet fractions of Mo and Ti−Si−N, respectively, whose formation was attributed to the deposition features and elemental segregation within a coating. The study has unveiled the processes corresponding to nanostructure formation in the nanocomposite and template layers. It was shown that Al bonds prevail in the upper TiAlSiYN layer recognized as an influential factor of the enhanced hardness (33.2 GPa) due to the formation of TiAlN solid solution. The vacancy exchange mechanism in MoN layers was proposed as a source for structural stability. Yet, the tribological tests pointed out the deficiency of lubricating particles in the TiAlSiYN matrix. Additional studies regarding the optimization of composition are required.