ISSN 1063-7842, Technical Physics, 2011, Vol. 56, No. 7, pp. 1023–1030. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2011. Original Russian Text © A.D. Pogrebnyak, A.A. Drobyshevskaya, V.M. Beresnev, M.K. Kylyshkanov, T.V. Kirik, S.N. Dub, F.F. Komarov, A.P. Shipilenko, Yu.Zh. Tuleushev, 2011, published in Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoі Fiziki, 2011, Vol. 81, No. 7, pp. 124–131. 1023 INTRODUCTION The field of studying nanostructured objects is a rapidly developing field in modern materials science. An ultrafine disperse structure significantly improves and, sometimes, radically changes the properties of a material [1, 2]. The studies of ultrafine-grained mate- rials demonstrate that a decrease in the crystallite size below a certain threshold value can substantially change the properties of a material. Size effects mani- fest themselves when the average grain size is smaller than 100 nm and are most pronounced when this size approaches 10 nm and an intercrystallyte (inergrain) layer, which mainly consists of an amorphous phase (nitrides, oxides, carbides, etc.), is several nanometers thick [1–5]. From a physical standpoint, the transi- tion to a nanostate is related to the appearance of size effects, which are considered to be a set of phenomena associated with a change in the properties of a sub- stance due to the coincidence of a structural block size and a certain critical length characterizing these phe- nomena (the free path length of electrons and phonons, the domain wall thickness, the critical radius of a dissolution loop, etc.) [4–9]. Nanocomposite coatings can be divided into hard (<40 GPa) and superhard (>40 GPa) coatings pro- duced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), magnetron sputtering, and ion-assisted deposition methods [7–13]. However, as follows from the composition, struc- ture, and deposition methods, these coatings depos- ited by vacuum-arc methods are not combined, and their usual thickness is 2.5–6.0 μm. It was shown in some works that, upon electron beam treatment, com- bined and hybrid coatings based on Al 2 O 3 /Cr/TiN and Al 2 O 3 /TiN improve their service properties, such as wear resistance, adhesion, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature strength to 950°C on the formation of the γ phase of Al 2 O 3 and to 2000°C on the formation of its α phase. Hybrid coatings are considered to be coatings consisting of metal, ceramic, and ceramic metal layers based on, e.g., Al 2 O 3 Cr/Ti–N or Ti– N/Al 2 O 3 . The authors of [13–17] found that the dep- osition of Ni–Cr(Fe, Si, B) coatings on steel improved its hardness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and adhesion, especially upon subsequent melting of a coating by an electron beam or a plasma jet. It is known from [15–17] that Cr in nickel alloys and Mo in nickel–molybdenum alloys retard the dis- solution of a nickel base, although Cr provides and Mo retards its passivity. Therefore, Ni–Cr alloys are stable Micro- and Nanocomposite Ti–Al–N/Ni–Cr–B–Si–Fe-Based Protective Coatings: Structure and Properties A. D. Pogrebnyak a, b *, A. A. Drobyshevskaya a, b , V. M. Beresnev a, b , M. K. Kylyshkanov c , T. V. Kirik b, d , S. N. Dub e , F. F. Komarov f , A. P. Shipilenko a, b , and Yu. Zh. Tuleushev g a Institute of Metal Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Sumy, 40021 Ukraine e-mail: alex@i.ua b Sumy Institute for Surface Modification, Sumy National University, ul. Rimskogo-Korsakova 2, Sumy, 40007 Ukraine *e-mail: apogrebnjak@simp.sumy.ua c Eastern Kazakh State Technical University, ul. Protazanova 69, Ust’-Kamenogorsk, 070000 Kazakhstan d Concern Ukrrosmetall, Kurskii pr. 6, Sumy, 40020 Ukraine e Institute for Superhard Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, ul. Avtozavodskaya 2, Kiev, 04074 Ukraine f Belarussian State University, ul. Leningradskaya 14, Minsk, 220030 Belarus g Institute of Nuclear Physics, ul. Ibragimova 1, Almaty, 050032 Kazakhstan Received July 24, 2008; in final form, July 19, 2010 Abstract—A new type of nanocomposite Ti–Al–N/Ni–Cr–B–Si–Fe-based coatings 70–90 μm thick pro- duced by combined magnetron sputtering and a plasma detonation technology is created and studied. Phases Ti 3 AlN + Ti 3 Al 2 N 2 and the phases caused by the interaction of plasma with a thick Al 3 Ti + Ni 3 Ti coating are detected in the coatings. The TiAlN phase has a grain size of 18–24 nm, and other phases has a grain size of 35–90 nm. The elastic modulus of the Ti–Al–N coating is E = 342 ± 1 GPa and its average hardness is H = 20.8 ± 1.8 GPa. The corrosion rate of this coating is very low, 4.8 μg/year, which is about three orders of mag- nitude lower than that of stainless steel (substrate). Wear tests performed according to the cylinder–surface scheme demonstrate high wear resistance and high adhesion between the thick and thin coatings. DOI: 10.1134/S1063784211070188 SURFACE, ELECTRON AND ION EMISSION