Effect of Hf addition and deposition condition on the structure and properties of the Ti-Hf-Si-N coatings

In the present work, multifunctional Ti-Hf-Si-N coatings have been deposited using CAVD method with the aim of studying their chemical, physical, structural and mechanical properties. The results demonstrated that coating was a two-phase, nanostructured nc-(Ti, Hf)N and α-Si3N4. Sizes of substitution solid solution nanograins changed from 3.8 to 6.5 nm, and an interface thickness surrounding α-Si3N4 varied from 1.2 to 1.8 nm. Coatings hardness, which was measured by nanoindentation was from 42.7 GPa to 48.6 GPa, and an elastic modulus was E = (450 to 515) GPa.