Abstract Spinodal decomposition in the transition metal aluminum nitrides, usually triggered by annealing, can enhance hardness via forming coherent nanometer-size domains, but it is still required to activate during fabrication. Herein, Mo was introduced into Ta-Al-N to obtain Ta-Mo-Al-N films by co-sputtering method, which induced two kinds of phase separations, including ~ 15 at% Mo induced presence of stable wurtzite AlN phase and ~ 28 at% Mo activated spinodal decomposition forming coherent fcc-Ta-Al-N and Mo-Al-N nano-domains. It is found that both hardness and toughness would be worsened by presence of hexagonal wurtzite AlN phase at incorporation of ~ 15 at% Mo. On the contrary, once spinodal decomposition took place at ~ 28 at% Mo, achieving the joint targets of enhanced hardness and toughness, together with reduced friction and improved wear-resistance. It may provide a new strategy to activate spinodal decomposition during fabrication by alloying additional elements.

中文翻译：

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Mo掺入活化的Ta-Mo-Al-N薄膜中的旋节线分解：提高硬度和韧性

摘要 过渡金属氮化铝中的旋节线分解通常由退火触发，可以通过形成相干的纳米尺寸域来提高硬度，但在制造过程中仍需要激活。在此，通过共溅射方法将 Mo 引入 Ta-Al-N 中以获得 Ta-Mo-Al-N 薄膜，这引起了两种相分离，包括~15 at% Mo 诱导稳定纤锌矿 AlN 相的存在和~ 28 at% Mo 激活旋节线分解形成相干 fcc-Ta-Al-N 和 Mo-Al-N 纳米域。发现在掺入~15 at% Mo时，六方纤锌矿AlN相的存在会降低硬度和韧性。相反，一旦在~28 at% Mo下发生旋节线分解，实现了提高硬度的联合目标和韧性，同时减少摩擦和提高耐磨性。它可以提供一种新的策略，通过合金化附加元素在制造过程中激活旋节线分解。