Properties of Multilayered Nanoscale TiN/MoN Coatings, Fabricated Using Arc Evaporation

Abstract

Using vacuum-arc evaporation method we fabricated periodic multilayered TiN/MoN coatings with different bilayer periods ranging from 8 to 100 nm. We found that MoN and TiN layers grown on steel substrate show local partial epitaxy and columnar growth across interfaces. A Mo-Ti-C interlayer was observed between the substrate and the multilayered coating. MoN and TiN layers contain small (5÷30 nm) grains and are well crystallized with (100) preferred orientation. They were identified as stoichiometric fcc TiN and cubic γ-Mo2N. Non-cubic molybdenum nitride phases were also detected. The hardness of the obtained structures achieved great values and maximal hardness was 31÷41.8 GPa for multilayered structure with 8 nm period. Fabricated coatings are perspective for using as protective coatings in order to improve mechanical characteristics of different construction materials.