The microstructure of a multielement nanostructured (TiZrHfVNbTa)N coating and its resistance to irradiation with Au$^-$ ions

The formation of a phase with a FCC lattice of the NaCl structure type is observed following the deposition of a multielement nanostructured (TiZrHfVNbTa)N coating. An increase in pressure results in a change in the preferred orientation of crystallite growth from the [100] axis perpendicular to the growth plane to [111]. The implantation of negative Au$^-$ ions with a dose of 1 $\times$ 10$^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$ and a concentration of 2.1 at% leads to the formation of a disordered polycrystalline structure with no preferred orientation of the FCC phase, reduces the size of nanocrystallites from 8 to 1–3 nm in a layer with a depth of up to 30–35 nm, and increases the nanohardness to 33.0 GPa. The large difference in atomic radii of refractory metals and the reduction in the size of nanograins in the coating contribute to an increase in hardness (51 GPa).