Growth and mechanical properties of TiN-AuN2 nanocomposite thin films on IN718 alloy substrates

•Nanocomposite thin films of TiN-AuN2 are prepared by co-sputtering.•Thin films are deposited on IN718 alloy substrates.•Nanocomposite films crystallize at substrate temperature of 250 °C.•Hardness and elastic modulus of nanocomposites are reported.

Using the reactive magnetron co-sputtering process TiN-AuN2 nanocomposite films were formed on IN718 (a Ni-based superalloy) substrates. Substrate temperature and deposition time strongly influenced crystallization, orientation, hardness and elastic modulus of the nanocomposite films. The films deposited at room temperature are amorphous while those deposited at 250 °C are nano-crystalline. The formation of the nanocomposite is confirmed by the SAED patterns which show the presence of both TiN and AuN2 phases. The hardness of the nanocomposite is in the range 4-6 GPa while the elastic modulus ranges from 55 to 100 GPa.