20.500.12556/DKUM-92185 Microstructure and surface topography study of nanolayered TiAlN/CrN hard coating The microstructure and surface topography of PVD hard coatings are among the most important properties, as they significantly determine their mechanical, tribological and other properties. In this study, we systematically analyzed the microstructure and topography of a TiAlN/CrN nanolayer coating (NL-TiAlN/CrN), not only because such coatings possess better mechanical and tribological properties than TiAlN and CrN monolayer coatings, mainly because the contours of the individual layers, in the cross-sectional STEM or SEM images of such coatings, make it easier to follow topographic and microstructural changes that occurred during its growth. We investigated the effects of the substrate rotation modes on the microstructure and surface topography of the NL-TiAlN/CrN coating, as well as on the periodicity of the nanolayer structure. The influence of the substrate material and the ion etching methods were also studied, while special attention was given to the interlayer roughness and influence of non-metallic inclusions in the steel substrates on the growth of the coating. The topographical features of the NL-TiAlN/CrN coating surface are correlated with the observations from the cross-sectional TEM and FIB analysis. Selected non-metallic inclusions, covered by the NL-TiAlN/CrN coating, were prepared for SEM and STEM analyses by the focused ion beam. The same inclusions were analyzed prior to and after deposition. We found that substrate rotation modes substantially influence the microstructure, surface topography and periodicity of the NL-TiAlN/CrN layer. Non-metallic inclusions in the substrates cause the formation of shallow craters or protrusions, depending on their net removal rates during the substrate pretreatment (polishing and ion etching), as compared to the matrix. magnetron sputtering nanolayer hard coatings growth defects surface topography interlayer roughness non-metallic inclusion focused ion beam (FIB) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mikrostruktura nanoplastne trde prevleke topografija površin fokusirani ionski snop vrstična elektronska mikroskopija true false true MDPI AG Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik https://www.mdpi.com/journal/coatings © 2022 by the authors Članek v reviji 2025-03-19 13:36:26 2025-03-19 13:36:26 2025-03-20 03:10:47 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2022 0 0 str. 1725-1-1725-19 no. 11 Vol. 12 2022 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2022-10-12 2022-11-08 2022-11-11 620.3 129057539 10.3390/coatings12111725 2079-6412 coatings-12-01725-v4.pdf coatings-12-01725-v4.pdf 1 42C5B4CC10BB904937360838238B7CA9 64345106e9bb3c03bfc969b789bb0d050bf52c524df547cc89d6f6cdb32271e3 00597bd5-04c1-11f0-a5c9-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=189477 https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/12/11/1725 0 09ff5d2a-04c1-11f0-a5c9-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=189478 Fakulteta za strojništvo 0 0 0