Investigation on microstructure and mechanical properties of reactively synthesized TiAlN/AlON nanomultilayers

► The novel TiAlN/AlON nanomultilayers were produced by reactive magnetron sputtering. ► The amorphous AlON layers were crystallized and grow epitaxially with TiAlN layers. ► The maximum hardness and elastic modulus, respectively, reach 36.2 GPa and 385.6 GPa.