Transition metal nitride functional coatings

During the past decade, interest in transition metal nitrides has grown con siderably. Nitrides of various elements play an important role in industry, science, and technology for their interesting and useful resilient propert ies. For example, many transition metal nitrides based on titanium, boron, and nitrogen have stimulated commercial interest because of their extreme h ardness, wear and corrosion resistance, and thermal and electrical properti es. All of these features are enhanced by the resulting structures and the large degree of covalency exhibited by the transition metal-nitride bonds. Coatings of select nitrides may particularly influence physico-chemical pro perties in critical surface and interface regions. This article attempts to present a brief overview on transition metal-nitride research for advancem ent in reliable machine part manufacturing.