Investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties of multi-layer Cr/Cr2O3 coatings

Single and multi-layer Cr/Cr2O3 coatings were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering with the total thickness of 7 μm on steel substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that single and multi-layer Cr/Cr2O3 coatings have different preferred crystal orientations. Columnar microstructure was detected by transmission electron microscopy both in metal chromium and ceramic chromium oxide layers. Grain size increased with the coating thickness. The value of single and multi-layer coating's fracture toughness is between 4 and 6 MPa·m1/2 measured with the Berkovich tip indentation, and it is between 2.8 and 3.9 MPa·m1/2 when measured with the Vickers indenter. The adhesion is about 192.1 and 246.7 J/m2 for single and multi-layer coatings, respectively.