Structural and mechanical properties of nano-crystal TiN coatings

The structural and mechanical properties of TiN coatings prepared by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) were studied. The coatings have a polycrystal structure with grain size of ≈10nm or less. The hardness of the coatings increases with increasing grain size of TiN crystallites. The coating with grain size of 10.3 nm even has a superhardness of 44.7 GPa. The relationship between the hardness and the grain size in the nano-crystalline coatings was discussed on the basis of grain-boundary triple junctions.