In order to study the effect of the microstructure with Al and V added TiN coatings, TiN, TiAlN and TiAlVN coatings were deposited on AISI M2 high-speed steels by magnetron reactive sputtering. The microstructures of all the coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that the addition of Al into TiN coatings reduces their lattice constant, but a further addition of V into TiAlN coatings increases their lattice constant. Moreover, the growth morphologies for TiN, TiAlN, and TiAlVN indicate that adding Al and V has a tendency to improve the columnar structure. The (111) and (200) orientations of TiN, TiAlN, and TiAlVN are identified. Theε(Fe3N-Fe2N) phase occurs because a small amount of Fe is present in the coatings. The interlayers of TiAlN and TiAlVN have the preferred (01 1 0) orientation. The texture (columnar) structure of the (111) and (200) orientations is observed in the TiAlN and TiAlVN coatings. An orientation relationship of (01 1 0)α-Ti//(110)T.M occurs between the interlayer and tempered martensite (T.M) in TiAlVN.
