Structural characterization and mechanical properties of Ti–Zr–N coatings, deposited by vacuum arc

TiN/ZrN multilayers and (Ti–Zr)N films were obtained by a vacuum-arc deposition method, using Ti and Zr plasma flows in residual N2 atmosphere, combined with ion bombardment of samples surface. The TiN/ZrN multilayered films consisted of TiN and ZrN layers with cubic structure and (1 1 1)-preferred orientation. It was shown that, for multicomponent Ti–Zr–N coatings, solid solutions were formed. The dominant preferred orientation of (Ti,Zr)N coatings was (1 1 1) and the residual stresses were in the range of −6 to −4 GPa, depending on the bias voltage applied to the substrate. The nanohardness of TiN/ZrN multilayers increased to 29 GPa and Youngʹs modulus decrease to 291 GPa with decreasing Λ, as compared with monolithic ZrN films (25 and 349 GPa, respectively). For (Ti,Zr)N coatings, nanohardness values were ranging from 35 to 40 GPa.