Evolution of a metastable thin film with high-hardness wear resistance for advanced cutting tool application

The structure and elastic properties of rocksalt and wurtzite Ti–Al–N ternary solid solutions were investigated using first principles calculations. We also performed an experimental evaluation using the sputtering method to obtain the reliability. The phase transition of (Ti_1−xAl_x)N solid solutions was occurred at x = 0.5–0.75 for both calculations and experimental results. The bulk modulus of rocksalt and wurtzite solid solutions decreases with increasing Al content. On the other hand, shear moduli and Young's moduli gradually increase with Al content only in rocksalt solid solutions. The theoretical and experimental results indicate that the overall mechanical properties of rocksalt solid solutions are superior to those of wurtzite solid solutions. Therefore, controlling the crystal structure of the Ti–Al–N ternary metastable system was crucial for optimizing the material properties.