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Different Mechanisms Leading to Superhard Coatings: Stable Nanocomposites and High Biaxial Compressive Stress
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Abstract
A strong enhancement of the hardness above 40 GPa in thin coatings can be achieved either by the formation of a suitable nanostructure (heterostructures and nanocomposites) or by a large biaxial compressive stress of ≥ 5 GPa. Superhard and thermally fairly stable nanocomposites, such as nc-TiN/a-Si3N4, nc-TiN/a-Si3N4/a-TiSi2, nc-(Ti1-xAlx)N/a-Si3N4 retain their hardness after annealing to 900-1100°C whereas coatings with a high stress, such as HfB2, CrxN/Ni, ZrN/Ni and others soften to ≤ 20 GPa already after their annealing to 400-500°C due to the relaxation of that stress.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002
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