The effect of modulation period on the mechanical and wear properties of TiAgN/W2N coatings

TiAgN/W2N nanoscale multilayered coatings with various modulation periods from 1.0 to 9.0 nm were prepared by alternating deposition of TiAgN and W2N. The microstructure, hardness and wear performances were analyzed by XRD, HRTEM, nano-indentation CSM, SEM, Raman and Bruker profilometer. The maximum hardness, 27.6 GPa, was obtained for the TiAgN/W2N nanoscale multilayered coating with modulation period of 2.0 nm, which is an increase of 72.5% over the rule of mixture hardness value (16.0 GPa) of TiAgN and W2N coatings. The wear resistance of TiAgN coating was improved greatly by nanoscale multilayered structurization with W2N due to the higher hardness. With increasing the tested temperature, the increase of the wear rate of TAW coatings is attributed to the increase of these oxides.