Adhesive strength, superhardness, and the phase and elemental compositions of nanostructured coatings based on Ti-Hf-Si-N

New superhard coatings based on Ti-Hf-Si-N with good physical and mechanical properties have been fabricated. A comparative analysis of the physical, mechanical, and tribomechanical characteristics of the coatings has been performed. The values of hardness, modulus of elasticity, elastic recovery, adhesive strength, friction coefficient, and wear rate of the coatings have been determined and calculated. The specific features of deformation and fracture of the coatings deposited on a steel substrate during the adhesion tests have been described. It has been shown that the parameters measured during scratching make it possible to distinguish the threshold values of the critical load, which lead to different (cohesive and adhesive) types of failure of the coatings during tribological tests. The stoichiometry for different series of samples with Ti-Hf-Si-N coatings has been determined using Rutherford backscattering, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and energy dispersive microanalysis.