Concepts for the design of advanced nanoscale PVD multilayer protective thin films

Technological challenges in future surface engineering applications demand continuously new material solutions offering superior properties and performance. Concepts for the design of such advanced multifunctional materials can be systematically evolved and verified by means of physical vapour deposition. The classical multilayer coating concept today is well established and widely used for the design of protective thin films for wear and tribological applications. It has proven great potential for the development of novel thin film materials with tailored properties. In the past decade, the emerging new class of nanoscale coatings has offered to the material scientists an even more powerful toolbox for the engineering thin film design through a combination of the multilayer concept with new nano-coatings. Some examples are the use and integration of low friction carbon-based nanocomposites in advanced multilayer structures or the stabilization of a specific coating in another structure in a nanolaminated multilayer composite. This paper reviews the latest developments in hard, wear-resistant thin films based on the multilayer coating concept. It describes the integration of nanocrystalline, amorphous and nanocrystalline/amorphous composite materials in multilayers and covers various phenomena such as the superlattice effect, stabilization of materials in another, foreign structure, and effects related to coherent and epitaxial growth. Innovative concepts for future, smart multilayer designs based on an extremely fine structural ordering at the nanoscale are presented as well.