Mechanical properties, thermal stability and oxidation resistance of Ta-doped CrAlN coatings

The thermal decomposition of metastable CrAlN coatings into wurtzite AlN and cubic Cr accompanied by N-loss limits their advanced machining applications. Here, the element of Ta is introduced into CrAlN coatings to enhance the mechanical properties and thermal stability. Incorporation of Ta into CrAlN coatings enhances the hardness from 30.8 ± 0.9 GPa for Cr0.48Al0.52N to 32.7 ± 0.9 GPa for Cr0.36Al0.59Ta0.05N and 34.4 ± 0.7 GPa for...