| Summary: | Ultra-microhardness, adhesion and residual-stress analysis tests were performed on reactive sputtered deposited TiN/ZrN multi-layers. Hardness values as high as ~3600 Vickers were achieved for this material. Scratch tests of coatings deposited on steel substrates confirmed the existence of different mechanisms associated with total adhesion failure, depending essentially on multi-layer deposition control parameters. Stress-relaxation measurements indicated the compressive nature of these thin films. The inherent mechanical characterisation was broadened regarding the induced contributions from film thickness, total interfacial roughness, number of bi-layers and corresponding modulation periodicity. Complementary analyses with data extracted from structural XRD studies have been undertaken.
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