A mechanical and tribological study of Cr/CrN multilayer coatings

Multilayer Cr/CrN coatings with different periodicities were grown on silicon substrates by means of a magnetron sputtering technique. Thin films with only Cr or CrN were also grown, in order to use them as reference samples. Structural, morphological, mechanical and tribological characterization were carried out by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), nanohardness and nanoscratch techniques, respectively. The characterization results were analyzed as a function of the bilayer thickness (period). In general, the multilayer hardness value increased with the decrease in period. In addition, the validity of the Hall-Petch relationship was confirmed for grain sizes and period values greater than 146 nm and 333 nm, respectively. The coefficient of friction (COF) increased with increasing load, which indicates the contribution of the adhesion to the COF.