Effect of High-Entropy Components of Nitride Layers on Nitrogen Content and Hardness of (TiN-Cu)/(AlNbTiMoVCr)N Vacuum-Arc Multilayer Coatings

An integrated research of links in the "content-structure-properties" chain in structural engineering of (TiN-Cu)/(AlNbTiMoVCr)N multilayer coatings was carried out with application of elemental and X-ray diffraction analysis as well as microhardness testing. It has been found that formation of the second layer based on a high-entropy alloy even with a relatively small content of components (below 1 wt %) leads to formation of a solid solution FCC lattice phase. Compared to TiN-Cu singlelayer coatings, the multilayer coating based on a (TiN-Cu)/(AlNbTiMoVCr)N system has an increased nitrogen content and an enhanced hardness of up to 24.5 GPa.