Abstract: The invention relates to a layer arrangement (1) for the formation of a coating on a surface (2) of a substrate (3), in a particular on the surface (2) of a tool (3), wherein the layer arrangement comprises at least one hard layer (4,5,6,7,8) having the composition SiaBbMecNuCvOw with a,b>0 and 33 at%>c?0, preferably 25 at%>c?0, in particular 10 at%>c?0 and u,v,w?0, and Me being a metal. Futhermore, the invention relates to a coating method for depositing a layer arrangement (1), as well as to a substrate (3), in particular a tool (3) or a wearing part (3) having a layer arrangement (1) according to the invention.

Abstract: The carbon containing hard coating (1) according to the invention comprises nano-crystalline grains being separated from each other by grain boundaries, wherein said hard coating comprises aluminium (Al), at least one additional metal (Me1, Me2), carbon (C) and at least one further element (E1, E2) and has the chemical composition: (AlxMe1yMe2z)CuE1vE2w wherein Me1 is a metal, and Me2 is a metal, with x>0.4 and x+y+z=1 and y,z?0, and E1 and E2 are further chemical elements with 1>u>0 and u+v+w=1 and v,w?0. The grain-boundaries have a higher concentration of carbon atoms than the nano-crystalline-grains.

Abstract: The invention refers to hard coating coated parts which are coated with a hard coating containing the elements Al, Ti, Cr, N, O with a chemical composition of each element of AlaTibCrcNwO100−w in the range of 30≦a≦70, 30≦b≦70, 0.5≦c≦20 a+b+c=100 at % and 70≦w≦99%. The invention aims at a superior adhesion between the coating and the substrate without a reduction of the wear resistance, of the oxidation resistance and the friction properties, but improving every one of the coating properties to achieve a stable behavior under heavy-duty cutting resulting in a long life-time. Therefore, it is proposed that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) 2 &thgr; of the (200)x-ray diffraction peak is larger than 0.4° and smaller than 0.7°.

Abstract: In hard layer coated parts which are coated with hard layers, this invention aims at improvements of wear resistance, oxidation behavior and lubrication properties.