Tribol Lett (2012) 45:143152 DOI 10.

1007/s11249-011-9876-5

ORIGINAL PAPER

Tribological Properties of Arc-Evaporated NbAlN Hard Coatings

R. Franz M. Lechthaler P. Polcik M. Rebelo de Figueiredo C. Mitterer

Received: 25 May 2011 / Accepted: 10 October 2011 / Published online: 21 October 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Abstract Nb1-xAlxN hard coatings were synthesised by cathodic arc-evaporation with different Al contents to study its inuence on the tribological properties. Ball-ondisc tests at temperatures up to 700 C were performed and the recorded coefcient of friction was generally in the range from 0.8 to 1.0. Subsequent analysis of the coating wear track and the counterpart wear scar by optical prolometry and Raman spectroscopy revealed details on the wear behaviour of the tested coatings. The best wear performance for the Nb-rich coatings was in the temperature range of 300500 C, whereas at the maximum testing temperature the higher oxidation resistance with increasing Al content was benecial in terms of wear resistance. Keywords NbAlN Hard coating Cathodic arcevaporation Coefcient of friction Wear coefcient

1 Introduction NbNx coatings are generally characterised by high hardness and thermal stability [15], but the main interest in the
R. Franz (&) M. Rebelo de Figueiredo C. Mitterer Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advanced Hard Coatings at the Department of Physical Metallurgy and Materials Testing, t Leoben, Franz-Josef-Strasse 18, Montanuniversita 8700 Leoben, Austria e-mail: robert.franz@unileoben.ac.at M. Lechthaler OC Oerlikon Balzers AG, Iramali 18, 9496 Balzers, Principality of Liechtenstein P. Polcik rgerstrasse 23, PLANSEE Composite Materials GmbH, Siebenbu 86983 Lechbruck am See, Germany

material was originally due to its superconducting properties [6]. Compared with other common binary transition metal nitrides like TiN and CrN, the Nb-N system presents a higher complexity as a variety of crystallographic phases can be formed [7]. The maximum hardness was found for coatings exhibiting the hexagonal structure of b-Nb2N, d0 -NbN and e-NbN with values up to 40 GPa, whereas the face-centred cubic (fcc) d-NbN coatings showed a hardness in the range of 2530 GPa [15]. Details about the tribological properties of the different NbNx phases can be found in Refs. [4, 8]. Similar to other transition metal nitrides, the addition of Al to NbN was done with the aim of improving the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance. This strategy was very successful in case of TiAlN and CrAlN, and nowadays various commercial coatings are available for a wide range of applications [915]. Due to the substitution of Ti or Cr atoms by Al in the crystal lattice, a metastable solid solution is formed presenting high hardness values if the coating retains the fcc structure of the binary TiN or CrN. Al contents exceeding the solubility limit of AlN in fcc-TiN or fcc-CrN result in the formation of a solid solution with hexagonal wurtzite structure equal to the thermodynamically stable conguration of AlN [1618]. Investigations on the structural evolution of Nb1-xAlxN coatings as a function of the Al concentration revealed a similar change in the crystal structure at x 0:5. . .0:6 [19, 20] which is generally in good agreement with ab initio calculations [21]. The aim of the present study was to characterise arcevaporated Nb1-xAlxN hard coatings with respect to their tribological properties, in particular at elevated temperatures. The presented results are intended to aid the evaluation of whether or not NbAlN coatings have potential to be used in industrial applications.

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2 Experimental Details Nb1-xAlxN coatings were synthesised in a commercial cathodic arc-evaporation system (Oerlikon Balzers INNOVA) with a base pressure below 4 9 10-3 Pa. The high-speed steel (DIN 1.3343, AISI M2) coupons ( 30 9 10 mm2) used as substrates were heated to 500 C and etched in a pure Ar plasma with ions extracted from an additional arc discharge. During deposition, the substrate bias voltage was set to a constant value of -40 or -120 V and the N2 gas pressure was kept at 6 Pa. Four arc-sources were equipped with powder-metallurgically produced Nb1-yAly (y = 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8) targets and current controlled to 200 A. The coatings were deposited to a thickness of 34 lm at a rate of approximately 50 nm/min on twofold rotating substrates. The tribological tests were performed using a ball-on-disc tribometer from CSM Instruments at room temperature (RT), 300, 500 and 700 C. For the high-temperature tests, the heating-up time was 90 min in order to ensure a constant temperature during the tests which lasted for approximately 45 min. The load was kept constant at 2 N and the sliding speed was set to 10 cm/s. No lubricant was applied. Sintered alumina balls with a purity of 99.8% and a diameter of 6 mm were chosen as counterpart due to their chemical inertness at high temperatures. The sliding distance was set to 300 m and the radius of the wear track to 7 mm. The surface roughness of the coatings in as-deposited state and the worn volume of the wear tracks after the tribological tests was determined using an optical 3D white light proling system (Wyko NT 1000). From the measurements on the wear tracks, crosssections and wear coefcients of the coatings (ratio between volume and applied load times sliding distance) were obtained. For calculating the latter, the removed volume was determined from measuring ve spots evenly distributed along the circumference of the track. Images of the counterpart wear scars were recorded by using a standard light optical microscope. The removed volume was obtained by measuring the diameter of the ball cap. Subsequent to the tribological tests, the wear track and the unworn surface of the coatings as well as the wear scar on the alumina counterparts were analysed by Raman spectroscopy. The spectra were acquired with a Jobin Yvon LabRam confocal-Raman spectrometer equipped with a frequency-doubled Nd-YAG laser (wavelength: 532.2 nm).

their structure, chemical composition, mechanical properties and oxidation behaviour will be given. All deposited coatings are well adherent as tested by Rockwell C indentation and present a similar surface roughness with Ra values ranging from 10 to 20 nm. Increasing the bias voltage from -40 to -120 V during deposition results in a slightly higher roughness, but there seems to be no correlation with the Al content in the coatings. The chemical composition of the synthesised NbAlN coatings was analysed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and elastic recoil detection analysis [20]. The N content of 5152 at.% is close to stoichiometry while the metal ratio differs signicantly from the target composition. A loss in Al of *10 at.% has been observed which is most likely due to gas scattering during the deposition process. X-ray diffraction measurements to study the crystal structure revealed a change from fcc to wurtzite with increasing Al content [20]. The actual transition point depends on the deposition conditions and a rise in bias voltage during deposition results in a stabilisation of the fcc phase. At the low bias of -40 V, all Nb1-xAlxN coatings up to x & 0.45 revealed an fcc structure as dominating phase which extended to x & 0.56 at a higher bias voltage of -120 V. In terms of hardness and Youngs modulus, a general decrease of the values with increasing Al content has been observed by nanoindentation measurements [20]. The highest hardness values of the low-bias coatings were in the range from 30 to 32 GPa, whereas the maximum value of *33.5 GPa was measured on Nb0.73Al0.27N which was deposited at a bias of -120 V. This increase in hardness for the high-bias coatings is mainly caused by higher residual stress states in the coating as evidenced by biaxial stress temperature measurements [20]. An important aspect inuencing the tribological properties at elevated temperature is the oxidation behaviour. An improved oxidation resistance for the NbAlN coatings with higher Al contents has been obtained regardless of the change in the crystal structure [20]. Nb0.29Al0.71N revealed an onset temperature for oxidation of 800 C and the formation of monoclinic AlNbO4 has been evidenced by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. In addition to this oxide, orthorhombic Nb2O5 has been found for the Nb-rich coatings at the temperature range of 700800 C. At higher temperatures, it transformed to the monoclinic polymorph. 3.2 Tribological Properties

3 Results 3.1 General Coating Characterisation Prior to presenting the tribological properties of the synthesised NbAlN hard coatings, a short overview regarding

The detailed description of the friction and wear properties is limited to the following low-bias coatings: Nb0.73Al0.27N, the coating with the lowest amount of Al, Nb0.55Al0.45N, the coating with the highest concentration of Al showing an fcc structure, and Nb0.29Al0.71N, the coating with the highest content of Al within this study. These

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coatings exemplify the major ndings of the investigated NbAlN coatings within this study. As shown in Fig. 1, Nb0.73Al0.27N exhibited a steady-state coefcient of friction (COF) at RT of 0.9 after a running-in that lasted for *50 m. The corresponding wear track had a depth between 1 and 2 lm. An increase in temperature to 300 and 500 C resulted in a slight reduction of the steady-state COF, but a strong increase in the scattering of the value during the test. The measured wear track depth at 300 C was below 1 lm and at 500 C again in the range of 12 lm. At the maximum testing temperature of 700 C, the COF decreased to *0.6, but since the coating was completely removed during the test, the COF was inuenced by the steel substrate. A very similar friction behaviour has been observed for Nb0.55Al0.45N as the evolution of the COF with varying temperature was almost identical (see Fig. 2). The wear track depths, on the other hand, were different. At RT and 300 C, the depths were higher as compared with Nb0.73Al0.27N, even though the track at 300 C was deep but narrow. After testing at 500 C, only a shallow wear track has been found that mainly resulted from polishing the surface and accumulation of transfer material. The situation changed at 700 C where a wear track depth in the

range of the coating thickness has been measured. However, unlike Nb0.73Al0.27N the coating was not completely removed. Nb0.29Al0.71N, the coating with the highest Al content within this study, presented a steady-state COF of *0.8 at RT without pronounced running-in and a higher scattering than the other studied NbAlN coatings (see Fig. 3). At 300 and 500 C, the COF increased to a value of *1.0 and above, but the high scattering remained. The friction behaviour at 700 C was similar to the other coatings. In terms of wear, all measured wear track depths were in the range of the coating thickness except for RT were a depth of *3 lm was observed. 3.3 Chemical Analysis 3.3.1 Coating Wear Track Subsequent to the ball-on-disc test, the wear track on the coatings has been analysed by means of Raman spectroscopy (see Fig. 4) to identify possible changes of the coating material due to the exposure to high temperatures and the tribological contact conditions. In case of Nb0.73Al0.27N, no signicant changes were observed up to 500 C and the

Fig. 1 Coefcient of friction and wear track prole of Nb0.73Al0.27N (bias voltage: -40 V) at different testing temperatures

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146 Fig. 2 Coefcient of friction and wear track prole of Nb0.55Al0.45N (bias voltage: -40 V) at different testing temperatures

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recorded spectra were identical to the as-deposited coating. This indicates that the coating was still intact after each test which is in agreement with the measurements regarding the wear track depth (see Fig. 1). At 700 C, Fe oxides were detected in the wear track region due to the severe delamination of the coating during the tribological test. In this temperature range, Nb0.73Al0.27N starts to oxidise as can be seen by the Raman spectra recorded on the unworn surface after the test at 700 C. There, the formation orthorhombic Nb2O5 was noticed. A slightly different behaviour was encountered in case of Nb0.55Al0.45N. Only the Raman spectra measured within the wear track after testing at RT and 500 C showed the characteristics of the as-deposited coating material. At 300 and 700 C, the presence of Fe oxides indicates that the coating was worn through (see Fig. 4). According to the wear track proles in Fig. 2, at 300 C only a narrow segment of the steel substrate was exposed, whereas at 700 C a major part of the coating was removed during the test. However, unlike Nb0.73Al0.27N the coating in case of Nb0.55Al0.45N was not completely removed. A possible reason is the improved oxidation resistance. On the unworn coating surface of Nb0.55Al0.45N only weak signs of oxidation were noticed after the ball-on-disc test.

The Raman analysis after the tribological tests of Nb0.29Al0.71N revealed the presence of Fe oxides within the wear track on the coating for all testing temperatures except RT (see Fig. 4). This result is corroborated by the measured wear track depths as shown in Fig. 2. In contrast to the other two coatings presented above, Nb0.29Al0.71N showed no signs of oxidation at the maximum testing temperature of 700 C. 3.3.2 Counterpart Wear Scar Except for Fe oxides originating from the steel substrate, no altered material was found in the wear tracks of the studied NbAlN coatings after the tribological tests. Therefore, a detailed Raman analysis of the counterpart wear scar was performed. As shown in Fig. 5, the Raman spectra recorded on the counterpart used in the test of Nb0.73Al0.27N at RT reveal the presence of alumina. In this case, it seems that no third body was formed during tribological testing. In contrast, at 300 C the counterpart wear scar is covered by a transfer lm containing coating material. The presence of alumina was as well evidenced by the strong band at *490 cm-1 which might indicate a mixture of coating and counterpart material in the transfer

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Tribol Lett (2012) 45:143152 Fig. 3 Coefcient of friction and wear track prole of Nb0.29Al0.71N (bias voltage: -40 V) at different testing temperatures

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lm. On the other hand, the alumina signal can also originate from the counterpart underneath a thin layer of coating material. A similar situation is encountered after the test at 500 C where also a transfer lm containing coating material was found. In this case, the coating material showed rst signs of oxidation. At 700 C, mainly Fe oxides were present in the tribological contact zone as can be seen by the weak bands in the range from 200 to 300 cm-1 and the strong band at 663 cm-1. Attached material outside of the contact zone contained Nb2O5 which is oxidised coating material (cf. Fig. 4). In addition to the transfer material, a circular-shaped part of alumina could be identied in the counterpart wear scar. Similar to Nb0.73Al0.27N, the Raman spectra recorded on the wear scars of the counterparts used in the tests of Nb0.55Al0.45N revealed no altered material at RT but a transfer lm containing coating material at 300 and 500 C (see Fig. 6). In case of the test at 500 C, the transfer material again seemed to be slightly oxidised, but even less pronounced than for Nb0.73Al0.27N. At the maximum testing temperature of 700 C, Fe oxides were identied on the counterpart part wear scar since the coating was partly worn through. Figure 7 summarises the investigations on the counterparts used in the tests of Nb0.29Al0.71N, the coating with the

highest Al content within this study. At RT, only the presence of alumina could be evidenced on the wear scar. However, the spectra were inuenced by a pronounced uorescence that is typical for alumina and leads to an increase in intensity at higher Raman shifts [24]. At 300 and 500 C, the obtained results revealed that coating material was attached to the counterparts as it was the case for the other two studied coatings mentioned above. Surprisingly, no indications for the presence of Fe oxides were found even though the coating was worn through during the tests (cf. Figs. 3, 4). Only at 700 C, the recorded spectra revealed that Fe oxides attached to the counterpart. 3.4 Wear Coefcient Overview In order to allow for a comparison of the wear resistance, all calculated coating wear coefcients of the tested Nb1-xAlxN coatings, including low and high bias, are presented in Fig. 8. At RT, all coefcients were in the same range regardless of the Al content or the applied bias voltage during deposition. However, the absolute values were rather high, if compared with the wear coefcients at 300 C. In particular, the coatings with low Al contents revealed a lower wear at this temperature and the wear coefcients reduced by one order of magnitude. It could

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Fig. 4 Raman spectra of different Nb1-xAlxN coatings (bias voltage: -40 V) recorded after tribological tests at different temperatures: (black) wear track and (grey) unworn surface. Relevant reference Raman peak positions were included [22, 23]

also be noticed that the wear of the high-bias coatings is generally in the same range or lower as compared with the low-bias ones. Rising the testing temperature to 500 C, a similar behaviour was obtained. Especially the coatings with medium Al contents still exhibited a lower wear coefcient than at RT, but the general level of wear was slightly increased as compared with 300 C. The highest wear has been observed at the maximum testing temperature of 700 C. Here, the wear coefcient decreased with increasing Al content for both, low- and high-bias, coatings. The obtained counterpart wear coefcients are presented in Fig. 9. Similar to the coatings, the coefcients at RT were in the same range without a noticeable correlation to

Fig. 5 Light optical micrographs of the counterpart wear scars after the tribological tests of Nb0.73Al0.27N (bias voltage: -40 V) at different temperatures and Raman spectra from different zones within the wear scars

the Al content in the coatings or the applied bias voltage. Rising the temperature to 300 C resulted in generally higher values that seem to increase with increasing Al

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Fig. 6 Light optical micrographs of the counterpart wear scars after the tribological tests of Nb0.55Al0.45N (bias voltage: -40 V) at different temperatures and Raman spectra from different zones within the wear scars

Fig. 7 Light optical micrographs of the counterpart wear scars after the tribological tests of Nb0.29Al0.71N (bias voltage: -40 V) at different temperatures and Raman spectra from different zones within the wear scars

content. Surprisingly, the absolute value of the coefcients at this temperatures spans over a range of four orders of magnitude. At 500 C, there was also a tendency for increased wear at higher Al contents noticeable and the

values were still higher as compared with RT. No pronounced variation of the counterpart wear was found at the maximum testing temperature of 700 C.

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Fig. 8 Coating wear coefcient calculated after tribological tests of Nb1-xAlxN coatings (bias voltage: -40 and -120 V) at different temperatures. Lines are a guide for the eye

Fig. 9 Counterpart wear coefcient calculated after tribological tests of Nb1-xAlxN coatings (bias voltage: -40 and -120 V) at different temperatures. Lines are a guide for the eye

4 Discussion 4.1 Wear Mechanisms Details on the wear mechanisms active during sliding of the NbAlN coatings against alumina counterparts can be derived from the performed analysis. At RT, no altered material in the wear track and no transfer lm on the counterpart were found. Abrasion of the coating material is most likely by ploughing resulting in low counterpart and high coating wear. Since no third body is involved in the tribological contact, the wear resistance in this case should be inuenced by the hardness: the harder the coating, the lower the wear of the coating and the higher the wear of the counterpart. In general, such a relation is not very pronounced in the present case, but seems to be fullled in terms of coating wear. However, the counterpart presents

some exceptions: Nb0.29Al0.71N deposited at -40 V and Nb0.73Al0.27N at -120 V. In the medium temperature range, i.e. at 300 and 500 C, a transfer lm containing coating material was found on the counterpart wear scar. Especially in case of the NbAlN coatings with low or medium Al contents, the coating wear decreased as compared with RT even though the friction remained high. It seems that a stable interface between the polished coating surface and the transfer lm formed that prevented further removal of coating material. On the other hand, the counterpart wear increased as compared with RT. Since the transfer lm attached to the counterpart, abrasion of the alumina counterpart can be excluded. Adhesive wear when parts of the transfer lm detach seems more likely. It is also possible that a major fraction of the counterpart wear occurred prior to the formation of the transfer lm. In order to study the transfer

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lm formation in detail, in situ characterisation methods that monitor the tribological contact during sliding need to be used [25]. At the maximum testing temperature of 700 C, the wear behaviour is mainly inuenced by the onset of coating oxidation. As the oxidation resistance is improved with increasing Al content in the coatings, the coating wear decreases and the best wear performance within this study was obtained for the coating with the highest Al content. The oxides found on the Nb-rich coatings apparently offer only reduced wear protection. Most likely, these oxides were removed easily during sliding and fresh coating material was exposed to the ambient environment. In this way, oxidation of the coating material can proceed faster than in a static annealing experiment like in Ref. [20]. However, on the counterpart wear scar only the presence of Fe oxides was noticed due to the fact that all coatings were worn through during the test. The counterpart wear remained generally constant at this testing temperature. 4.2 Comparison to Binary NbN Coatings Comparing the obtained tribological properties of the investigated NbAlN coatings to results of binary NbN from literature, a few similarities can be noticed. Fontalvo et al. studied the friction and wear behaviour of different NbNx phases against alumina counterparts at RT and 500 C [4]. The observed steady-state COF of the fcc d-NbN coating at RT was 0.9 and decreased to 0.7 at 500 C. These values are very similar to the COF recorded for the Nb-rich NbAlN coatings within this study, whereas the Al-rich coatings revealed a slightly higher friction. In addition, it was reported that the wear resistance of d-NbN increased when rising the testing temperature from RT to 500 C. The wear track depth reduced from *3 to 0.5 lm and the wear coefcient from 1 9 10-14 to 6 9 10-15m3/Nm [4]. A similar reduction has been observed for the Nb-rich NbAlN coatings that exhibited the same crystal structure like d-NbN. The improvement in the wear behaviour of binary NbN has been related to the formation of Nb2O5 at 500 C, that seemed to form a protective layer on the surface. This behaviour is in contrast to the observations within the present study. Due to the addition of Al, the oxidation resistance of the NbAlN coatings is generally higher as compared with the binary NbN. The rst signs of oxidation were noticed at 700 C for the Nb-rich coatings where the formation of Nb2O5 was evidenced by Raman spectroscopy. However, unlike for the binary d-NbN, the appearance of this oxide marks a strong increase in wear and the highest wear coefcients within this study were obtained. The coefcients of the Nb-rich coatings were higher than at

500 C and higher than the coefcients of the Al-rich coatings. In the latter case, no formation of oxides could be noticed within the tested temperature range. It therefore seems that a higher oxidation resistance results in an improved wear behaviour of NbAlN coatings. 4.3 Comparison to Other MeAlN Coatings Several publications are available where the authors show that the incorporation of Al into transition metal nitrides like TiN, ZrN and CrN yields a better oxidation and wear resistance [915, 26]. Similar to the NbAlN coatings studied within the present study, TiAlN and ZrAlN revealed a reduction in wear with increasing temperature when tested against alumina counterparts [2628]. Comparing the wear coefcients of these three coating materials, NbAlN generally seems to exhibit a better wear resistance than ZrAlN, but slightly inferior to TiAlN. The best wear behaviour at RT could be obtained for CrAlN where wear coefcients as low as 1.5 9 10-16 m3/Nm were measured, i.e. two orders of magnitude lower than for NbAlN [29]. However, the wear of CrAlN gradually increases with rising temperature and at elevated temperatures of 500 to 700 C the wear is roughly in the same range like NbAlN, in particular the coatings with medium to high Al contents.

5 Conclusions Within the present study, the tribological properties of Nb1x Alx N x 0:27. . .0:71 synthesised by cathodic arcevaporation were studied. The coefcient of friction is generally in the range from 0.8 to 1.0 at testing temperatures between room temperature and 700 C. All tested NbAlN coatings revealed a high wear coefcient at room temperature. Removal of coating material at this temperature is most likely due to ploughing as no transfer lm has been observed. In the medium temperature range from 300 to 500 C, a transfer lm containing coating material attached to the counterpart. This is accompanied by a general reduction in coating wear and an increase in counterpart wear. At 700 C, the wear resistance improves with increasing Al content which is most likely related to the higher oxidation resistance of the Al-rich coatings. In general, the tribological properties of NbAlN coatings are roughly comparable to other MeAlN (Me = Ti, Zr, and Cr) coatings.
Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Astrid Wachauer ger (Montanuniversita t Leoben, Austria) for their and Elisabeth Ja experimental work. Financial support by the Christian Doppler Research Association is highly acknowledged.

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Tribol Lett (2012) 45:143152 prepared by cathodic arc evaporation. Surf. Coat. Technol. 200, 21142122 (2005). Sugishima, A., Kajioka, H., Makino, Y.: Phase transition of pseudobinary CrAlN lms deposited by magnetron sputtering method. Surf. Coat. Technol. 97, 590594 (1997). Makino, Y.: Application of band parameters to materials design. ISIJ Int. 38, 925934 (1998). Kimura, A., Kawate, M., Hasegawa, H., Suzuki, T.: Anisotropic lattice expansion and shrinkage of hexagonal TiAlN and CrAlN lms. Surf. Coat. Technol. 169170, 367370 (2003). Selinder, T., Miller, D., Gray, K., Sardela, M. Jr., Hultman, L.: Phase formation and microstructure of Nb1-xAlxN alloy lms grown on MgO (001) by reactive sputtering: a new ternary phase. Vacuum 46, 14011406 (1995). Franz, R., Lechthaler, M., Polzer, C., Mitterer, C.: Structure, mechanical properties and oxidation behaviour of arc-evaporated NbAlN hard coatings. Surf. Coat. Technol. 204, 24472453 (2010). Holec, D., Franz, R., Mayrhofer, P., Mitterer, C.: Structure and stability of phases within the NbNAlN system. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 43, 145403 (2010) (18). Jehng, J.M., Wachs, I.: Structural chemistry and Raman spectra of niobium oxides. Chem. Mater. 3, 100107 (1991). RASMIN Web. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. http://riodb.ibase.aist.go.jp/rasmin/ (2011). Accessed April 2011. Aminzadeh, A.: Excitation frequency dependence and uorescence in the Raman spectra of Al2O3. Appl. Spectrosc. 51(6), 817819 (1997). Rebelo de Figueiredo, M., Muratore, C., Franz, R., Chromik, R., Wahl, K., Voevodin, A., OSullivan, M., Lechthaler, M., Mitterer, C.: In situ studies of TiC1-xNx hard coating tribology. Tribol. Lett. 40(3), 365373 (2010). Franz, R., Lechthaler, M., Polzer, C., Mitterer, C.: Oxidation behaviour and tribological properties of arc-evaporated ZrAlN hard coatings. Surf. Coat. Technol. (2011). doi:10.1016/j.surf coat.2011.10.023. Pfeiler, M., Kutschej, K., Penoy, M., Michotte, C., Mitterer, C., Kathrein, M.: The effect of increasing V content on structure, mechanical and tribological properties of arc evaporated TiAl VN coatings. Int. J. Refract. Met. Hard Mater. 27, 502506 (2009). lker, Weirather, T., Kutschej, K., Caliskanoglu, D., Cremer, R., Ko W., Kohlscheen, J., Mitterer, C.: High temperature sputter deposition of Ti1-xAlxN coatings on powder-metallurgical high-speed steels. In: Beiss, P., Broeckmann, C., Franke, S., Keysselitz, B. (eds.) Proceedings of the 8th International Tooling Conference, vol. 2, pp. 881889. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen (2009). Reiter, A., Mitterer, C., Rebelo de Figueiredo, M., Franz, R.: Abrasive and adhesive wear behavior of arc-evaporated Al1-xCrxN hard coatings. Tribol. Lett. 37, 605611 (2010).

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