Microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of TiN/Mo2N nano-multilayer films deposited by magnetron sputtering

TiN/Mo2N nano-multilayer films with modulation period ranging from 3 nm to 9.8 nm were deposited by magnetron sputtering. TiN and Mo2N monolithic films were also deposited for comparison. It was found that the (200) preferred orientated TiN/Mo2N nano-multilayer films exhibited fcc structure similar to B1-NaCl and formed isostructural superlattice with well defined interfaces between TiN and Mo2N layers. The multilayer films with modulation periods λ = 3 nm and 5.7 nm exhibited superhardness with a value of about 41 GPa. Both the coefficient of friction and specific wear rate of multilayer films increased from 0.29 to 0.44 and 5.8 × 10− 17 m3/Nm to 1.3 × 10− 16 m3/Nm, respectively, with the increase of the modulation period. The TiN/Mo2N nano-multilayer films exhibited improved mechanical and tribological properties compared to TiN and Mo2N monolithic films.