US20010049011A1

US20010049011A1 - PVD A12O3 coated cutting tool

Info

Publication number: US20010049011A1
Application number: US09/782,226
Authority: US
Inventors: Siegfried Schiller; Klaus Goedicke; Fred Fietzke; Olaf Zywitzki; Mats Sjostrand; Bjorn Ljungberg; Tomas Hilding; Viveka Alfredsson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Sandvik Intellectual Property AB
Priority date: 1997-11-06
Filing date: 2001-02-14
Publication date: 2001-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 2018-11-06
Also published as: ATE259003T1; KR100614961B1; EP1029105A1; KR20010072535A; ATE286155T1; EP1253215B1; DE69821516D1; BR9813186A; WO1999024634A1; US6673430B2; SE520802C2; EP1253215A2; JP2001522725A; SE9704066D0; DE69828453T2; US20030027015A1; US6423403B2; CN1278307A; DE69821516T2; RU2206432C2

Abstract

The present invention describes a coated cutting tool for metal machining. The coating is composed of one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer consists of fine-grained, crystalline γ-phase alumina, Al₂O₃, with a grainsize less than 0.1 μm. The Al₂O₃layer is deposited with a bipolar pulsed DMS technique (Dual Magnetron Sputtering) at substrate temperatures in the range 450° C. to 700° C., preferably 550° C. to 650° C., depending on the particular material of the tool body to be coated. Identification of the γ-phase alumina is made by X-ray diffraction. Reflexes from the (400) and (440) planes occurring at at the 2θ-angles 45.8 and 66.8, degrees when using Cu_Kα radiation identify the γ-phase Al₂O₃. The alumina layer is also very strongly textured in the [440]-direction.

In contrast to prior art, the Al₂O₃layer is virtually free of cracks and halogen impurities and, furthermore, the Al₂O₃layer gives the cutting edge of the tool an extremely smoth surface finish which compared to prior art α-Al₂O₃coated tools, results in an improved surface finish also of the workpiece being machined, and when coated cemented carbide cutting tools according to the invention are used in the machining of steel or cast iron, several important improvements compared to prior art have been observed which will be demonstrated in the forthcoming examples.

Description

The present invention describes a cutting tool for metal machining, having a body of cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics or high speed steel and on the surface of said body, a hard and wear resistant refractory coating is deposited. The coating is adherently bonded to the body and covering all functional parts of the tool. The coating is composed of one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer consists of fine-crystalline alumina, Al ₂O₃, deposited by Physical Vapour Deposition PVD) and the non-Al₂O₃layer(s), if any at all, consists of metal nitrides and/or carbides with the metal elements chosen from Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, W and Al.

It is well known that for e.g. cemented carbide cutting tools used in metal machining, the wear resistance of the tool edge considerably can be increased by applying thin, hard surface layers of metal oxides, carbides or nitrides with the metal either selected from the transition metals from the groups IV, V and VI of the Periodic Table or from silicon, boron and aluminium. The coating thickness usually varies between 1 and 15 μm and the most widespread techniques for depositing such coatings are PVD and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). It is also known that further improvements of the performance of a cutting tool can be achieved by applying a pure ceramic layer such as Al ₂O₃on top of layers of metal carbides and nitrides (U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,564; U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,625).

Cemented carbide cutting tools coated with alumina layers have been commercially available for over two decades. The CVD technique usually employed involves the deposition of material from a reactive gas atmosphere on a substrate surface held at elevated temperatures. Al ₂O₃, crystallizes into several different phases such as α(alfa), κ(kappa) and χ(chi) called the “α-series” with hcp (hexagonal close packing) stacking of the oxygen atoms, and into γ(gamma), θ(theta), η(eta) and δ(delta) called the “γ-series” with fcc (face centered cubic) stacking of the oxygen atoms. The most often occurring Al₂O₃-phases in CVD coatings deposited on cemented carbides at conventional CVD temperatures, 1000°-1050° C., are the stable alpha and the metastable kappa phases, however, occasionally the metastable theta phase has also been observed.

The CVD Al ₂O₃coatings of the α-, κ- and/or θ-phase are fully crystalline with a grain size in the range 0.5-5 μm and having well-facetted grain structures.

The inherently high deposition temperature of about 1000° C. renders the total stress in CVD Al ₂O₃coatings on cemented carbide substrates to be tensile, hence the total stress is dominated by thermal stresses caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the substrate and the coating and less by intrinsic stresses which have there origin from the deposition process itself and are of compressive nature. The tensile stresses may exceed the rupture limit of Al₂O₃and cause the coating to crack extensively and thus degrade the performance of the cutting edge in e.g. wet machining where the corrosive chemicals in the coolant fluid may exploit the cracks in the coating as diffusion paths.

Generally CVD-coated tools perform very well when machining various steels and cast irons under dry or wet cutting conditions. However, there exists a number of cutting operations or machining conditions when PVD-coated tools are more suitable e.g. in drilling, parting and threading and other operations where sharp cutting edges are required. Such cutting operations are often referred to as the PVD coated tool application area.

Plasma assisted CVD technique, PACVD, makes it possible to deposit coatings at lower substrate temperatures as compared to thermal CVD temperatures and thus avoid the dominance of the thermal stresses. Thin Al ₂O₃PACVD films, free of cracks, have been deposited on cemented carbides at substrate temperatures 450°-700° C. (DE 41 10 005; DE 41 10 006; DE 42 09 975). The PACVD process for depositing Al₂O₃includes the reaction between an Al-halogenide, e.g. AlCl₃, and an oxygen donor, e.g. CO₂, and because of the incompleteness of this chemical reaction, chlorine is to a large extent trapped in the Al₂O₃coating and its content could be as large as 3.5%. Furthermore, these PACVD Al₂O₃coatings are generally composed of, besides the crystalline alfa- and/or gamma-Al₂O₃phase, a substantial amount of amorphous alumina which in combination with the high content of halogen impurities, degrades both the chemical and mechanical properties of said coating, hence making the coating material non-optimized as a tool material.

The field of the present invention relates particularly to the art of PVD Al ₂O₃coated carbide cutting tools or tools of similar hard materials such as cermets, ceramics and high speed steel.

There exist several PVD techniques capable of producing refractory thin films on cutting tools and the most established methods are ion plating, DC- and RF magnetron sputtering, arc discharge evaporation, BAD (Ion Beam Assisted Deposition) and Activated Reactive Evaporation (ARE). Each method has its own merits and the intrinsic properties of the produced coatings such as microstructure/grain size, hardness, state of stress, intrinsic cohesion and adhesion to the underlying substrate may vary depending on the particular PVD method chosen. Early attempts to PVD deposit Al ₂O₃at typical PVD temperatures, 400°-500° C., resulted in amorphous alumina layers which did not offer any notable improvement in wear resistance when applied on cutting tools. PVD deposition by HF diod- or magnetron sputtering resulted in crystalline α-Al₂O₃only when the substrate temperature was kept as high as 1000° C. (Thornton and Chin, Ceramic Bulletin, 56 (1977) 504). Likewise, applying the ARE method for depositing Al₂O₃, only resulted in fully dense and hard Al₂O₃coatings at substrate temperatures around 1000° C. (Bunshah and Schramm, Thin Solid Films, 40 (1977) 211).

With the invention of the bipolar pulsed DMS technique (Dual Magnetron Sputtering) which is disclosed in DD 252 205 and DE 195 18 779, a wide range of opportunities opened up for the deposition of insulating layers such as Al ₂O₃and, furthermore, the method has made it possible to deposit crystalline Al₂O₃layers at substrate temperatures in the range 500° to 800° C. In the bipolar dual magnetron system, the two magnetrons alternately act as an anode and a cathode and, hence, preserve a metallic anode over long process times. At high enough frequencies, possible electron charging on the insulating layers will be suppressed and the otherwise troublesome phenomenon of arcing will be limited. Hence, according to DE 195 18 779, the DMS sputtering technique is capable of depositing and producing high-quality, well-adherent, crystalline α-Al₂O₃thin films at substrate temperatures less than 800° C. The “α-Al₂O₃layers”, with a typical size of the α-grains varying between 0.2-2 μm, may partially also contain the gamma(γ) phase from the “γ-series” of the Al₂O₃polymorphs. The size of the γ-grains in the coating is much smaller than the size of the α-grains. The γ-Al₂O₃grainsize typically varies between 0.05 to 0.1 μm. In the Al₂O₃layers where both modifications of γ- and α-phase were found, the γ-Al₂O₃phase showed a preferred growth orientation with a (440)-texture. When compared to prior art plasma assisted deposition techniques such as PACVD as described in DE 49 09 975, the novel, pulsed DMS sputtering deposition method has the decisive, important advantage that no impurities such as halogen atoms, e.g. chlorine, are incorporated in the Al₂O₃coating.

According to the present invention there is provided a cutting tool for metal machining such as turning (threading and parting), milling and drilling comprising a body of a hard alloy of cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics or high speed steel onto which a hard and wear resistant refractory coating is deposited by the DMS PVD method at substrate temperatures of 450° to 700° C., preferably 550° to 650° C., depending on the particular material of the tool body, and that said wear resistant coating is composed of one or more layers of refractory compounds of which at least one layer, preferably the outermost layer, consists of Al ₂O₃and that the innermost layer(s), if any at all, between the tool body and the Al₂O₃layer, is composed of metal nitrides and/or carbides with the metal elements selected from Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, W and Al. In contrast to the state of the art, the Al₂O₃layers consist of high-quality, dense, fine-grained crystalline γ-Al₂O₃with a grainsize less than 0.1 μm. Furthermore, the γ-Al₂O₃layers are virtually free of cracks and halogen impurities. The latter property is illustrated in FIG. 1 which is an EDS-analysis of an Al₂O₃layer deposited by PACVD (with Al₂O₃as a precurser) containing Cl-impurities and in FIG. 2 which is an EDS-analysis of a γ-Al₂O₃layer according to the invention. In the latter Al₂O₃layer no detectable impurities are present.

The γ-Al ₂O₃layers according to the invention further give the cutting edges of the tool an extremely smooth surface finish which, compared to prior art α-Al₂O₃coated tools, results in an improved surface finish also of the workpiece being machined. The very smooth surface finish can be attributed to the very fine crystallinity of the coating. The “γ-Al₂O₃” layers may also partially contain other phases from the “γ-series” like θ, δ and η. Identification of the γ- and/or θ-phases in the Al₂O₃layers according to the invention can preferably be made by X-ray diffraction. Reflexes from the (400) and (440) planes of the γ-Al₂O₃layers occurring at the 2θ-angles 45.80 and 66.80 when using Cu_Kα radiation, unequivocally identifies the γ-phase (FIG. 3). Weaker reflexes from the (222), (200) and (311) planes of the γ-phase can occasionally be identified. When the θ-phase is present in the Al₂O₃layers according to the invention, said phase is identified by the reflexes from the (200, 20-2) planes (FIG. 4).

A second identification method for the Al ₂O₃phases is based on electron diffraction in a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). A diffraction pattern from an Al₂O₃layer deposited at a substrate temperature of 650° C. is shown in FIG. 5. The pattern shows rings from a polycrystalline phase with grains considerably smaller than the diameter of the electron beam and, furthermore, the intensity of the rings and the distances between the rings again unequivocally identifies the γ-phase of Al₂O₃.

The fine-grained, crystalline γ-Al ₂O₃according to the invention is strongly textured in the [440]-direction. A Texture Coefficient, TC, can be defined as:

TC (hk1) = \frac{I (hkl)}{I_{O} (hkl)} {\frac{1}{n} \sum \frac{I (hkl)}{I_{O} (hkl)}}^{- 1}

where

I(hkl)=measured intensity of the (hkl) reflection

I _o(hkl)=standard intensity from the ASTM standard powder pattern diffraction data

n=number of reflections used in the calculation (hkl) reflections used are: (111), (311), (222), (400) and (440) and whenever the TC(hkl)>1, there is a texture in the [hkl]-direction. The larger the value of TC(hkl), the more prenounced is the texture.

According to the present invention, the TC for the set of (440) crystal planes is greater than 1.5.

When the very fine-grained γ-Al ₂O₃coated cemented carbide cutting tools according to the invention are used in the machining of steel or cast iron, several important improvements compared to prior art have been observed which will be demonstrated in the forthcoming examples. Surprisingly, the PVD γ-Al₂O₃without containing any portion of the coarser and thermodynamically stable α-Al₂O₃phase, shows in certain metal machining operations, a wear resistance which is equal to the wear resistance found in coarser CVD α-Al₂O₃coatings deposited at temperatures around 1000° C. Furthermore, the fine-grained PVD γ-Al₂O₃coatings show a wear resistance considerably better than prior art PVD coatings. These observations open up the possibility to considerably improve the cutting performance and prolong the tool lives of coated PVD tools. The low deposition temperature will also make it possible to deposit PVD γ-Al₂O₃coatings on high speed steel tools.

A further improvement in cutting performance can be anticipated if the edges of the γ-Al ₂O₃coated cutting tools according to the invention are treated by a gentle wet-blasting process or by edge brushing with brushes based on e.g. SiC as disclosed in the Swedish patent application 9402543-4.

The total coating thickness according to the present invention varies between 0.5 and 20 μm, preferably between 1 and 15 μm with the thickness of the non-Al ₂O₃layer(s) varying between 0.1 and 10 μm, preferably between 0.5 and 5 μm. The fine-grained γ-Al₂O₃coating can also be deposited directly onto the cutting tool substrate of cemented carbide, cermet, ceramics or high speed steel and the thickness of said γ-Al₂O₃varies then between 0.5 and 15 μm preferably between 1 and 10 μm. Likewise can further coatings of metal nitrides and/or carbides with the metal elements selected from Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, W and Al be deposited on top of of the Al₂O₃layer.

The γ-Al ₂O₃layer according to the invention is deposited by a bipolar dual magnetron sputtering technique at substrate temperatures of 450°-700° C., preferably 550°-650° C., using aluminium targets, a gas mixture of Ar and O₂and a process pressure in the range 1-5 μbar. The substrate may be floating or pulsed biased, the exact conditions depending to a certain extent on the design of the equipment being used.

It is within the purview of the skilled artisan to determine whether the requisite grainsize and phase compositions have been obtained and to modify the deposition conditions in accordance with the present specification, if desired, to affect the nanostructure of the Al ₂O₃layer within the frame of the invention.

The layer(s) described in the present invention, comprising metal nitrides and/or carbides and/or carbonitrides and with the metal elements selected from Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, W and Al can be deposited by PVD-technique, CVD- and/or MTCVD-technique (Medium Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition).

The superiority of the fine-grained γ-Al ₂O₃PVD layers according to the present invention, compared to prior art PVD coatings is demonstrated in Examples 1, 2 and 5. Examples 3, 4 and 6 demonstrate the suprisingly good wear resistance properties of the fine-grained γ-Al₂O₃layers compared to traditionally CVD-deposited single phase κ-Al₂O₃and single phase α-Al₂O₃layers.

EXAMPLE 1

A) Commercially available cemented carbide threading inserts of style R166.OG-16MM01-150 having a composition of 10 w %/ Co and balance WC, coated with an approximately 2 μm TiN layer by an ion plating technique. [0027]
B) TiN coated tools from A) were coated with a 1 μm fine-grained γ-Al[0028] ₂O₃layer in a separate experiment with the pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The deposition temperature was 650° C. and the process pressure was 1 μbar.
C) Cemented carbide threading inserts of style R166.OG-16MM01-150 having a composition of 10 w % Co and balance WC, coated with an approximately 3 μm TiN layer by an ion plating technique. [0029]
Coated tool inserts from B) and C) were then tested in a threading operation at a customers site in the production of engine oil plugs of cast iron (SS0125; 180-240 HB). The thread of the plug being produced was of size M36×1.5. [0030]

Cutting data:

Speed: 154 m/min

5 passages per thread

The results below is expressed as the number of machined plugs per cutting edge.



C) prior art	300 plugs	Large crater wear, cutting edge is
		worn out
B) invention	>500 plugs	No detectable wear on the cutting
		edge. The edge can produce more
		plugs

From the above results it is obvious that the alumina coated insert according to the invention is superior with respect to cutting performance. [0032]

EXAMPLE 2

D) Commercial PVD-TiN coated cemented carbide drilling inserts of style LCMX 040308-53 with a coating thickness of approximately 3 μm having a cemented carbide composition of 10 w % Co and balance WC. [0033]
E) TiN coated tools from D), coated with a 1 μm fine-grained γ-Al[0034] ₂O₃layer in a separate experiment with the pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The deposition temperature was 650° C. and the process pressure was 1 μbar.
The alumina coating from E) appeared transparent and very smooth. SEM studies of a fracture cross section of the alumina coating showed a very fine-grained structure. A XRD-investigation identified the alumina phase as pure γ-Al[0035] ₂O₃.
Coated tool inserts from D) and E) were then tested in a drilling operation in a workpiece material of a low alloyed, non-hardened steel (SS 2541). [0036]

Cutting data:

Speed: 150 m/min

Feed: 0.12 mm/rev

Hole diameter: 25 mm

Hole depth: 46 mm

Coolant being used

Both flank and crater wear were developed on the cutting edges. The extent of the flank wear determined the life time of the cutting tool. The results below express the number of holes being drilled per cutting edge.



D) prior art	150 holes	Flank wear 0.15 mm
	200 holes	Flank wear 0.22 mm,
		cutting edge is damaged
E) invention	150 holes	Flank wear 0.07 mm
	200 holes	Flank wear 0.09 mm
/	250 holes	Flank wear 0.10 mm,
		cutting edge is slightly
		damaged

From the above results it is obvious that the alumina coated inserts according to the invention are able to drill more holes than the prior art inserts. [0038]

EXAMPLE 3

F) Cemented carbide inserts of style CNMA 120412-KR having a composition of 6 w % Co and balance WC, coated with a first layer of 8 μm TiCN and thereafter with a top layer of 4.7 μm α-Al[0039] ₂O₃. Both the TiCN and the Al₂O₃layer were deposited by conventional CVD-technique. The Al₂O₃layer had an average grain size of 1.2 μm.
G) Cemented carbide inserts of the same style and composition as in F), first coated with an approximately 3.6 μm TiCN layer by conventional CVD-technique and thereafter coated with a 2.3 μm fine-grained γ-Al[0040] ₂O₃layer in a separate experiment with the pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The deposition temperature was 650° C. and the process pressure was 1 μbar.
Coated inserts from F) and G) were then tested in a continuous turning operation in a ball bearing steel (Ovako 825). The crater wear of the cutting edges was measured. [0041]

Cutting data:

Speed: 210 m/min

Feed: 0.25 mm/rev

Depth of cut: 2.0 mm

Coolant being used
The cutting operation was periodically interupted in order to measure the crater wear of the cutting edges. The crater wear was measured in an optical microscope. The machining time until the Al[0042] ₂O₃layer was worn through, was registered (i.e. when the inner TiCN coating just becoming visible). In order to define a figure of merit for the intrinsic wear resistance of the Al₂O₃layers, the thickness (μm) of the Al₂O₃layer was divided by the above defined machining time (min). The results below express the wear rate figure of merit.

F) prior art α-Al₂O₃layers 0.5 μ/min

C) invention 0.5 μm/min
From the above results it is obvious that the wear resistance of the fine-grained γ-Al[0043] ₂O₃layer suprisingly is as good as the wear resistance of the coarser-grained α-Al₂O₃layer deposited by CVD technique.

EXAMPLE 4

H) Cemented carbide inserts of style CNMA 120412-KR having a composition of 6 w % Co and balance WC, coated with a first layer of 6 μm TiCN and thereafter with a top layer of 1.1 μm κ-Al[0044] ₂O₃. Both the TiCN and the Al₂O₃layer were deposited by conventional CVD technique. The Al₂O₃layer had an average grain size of 1 μm.
I) Cemented carbide inserts of the same style and composition as in H), coated with an approximately 2.5 μm TiN layer by an ion plating technique. [0045]
J) TiN coated tools from I), coated with a 1.2 μm fine-grained γ-Al[0046] ₂O₃layer in a separate experiment with the pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The deposition temperature was 600° C. and the process pressure was 1 μbar.
K) TiN coated tools from I), coated with a 1.7 μm fine-grained γ-Al[0047] ₂O₃layer in a separate experiment with the pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The deposition temperature was 730° C. and the process pressure was 1 μbar.
Coated inserts from H), J) and K), were then tested in a continuous turning operation in a ball bearing steel (Ovako 825). The crater wear of the cutting edges was measured. [0048]

Speed: 250 m/min

Feed: 0.25 mm/rev

Depth of cut: 2.0 mm

Coolant being used
The cutting operation was periodically interupted in order to measure the crater wear of the cutting edges. The crater wear was measured in an optical microscope. The machining time until the Al[0049] ₂O₃layer was worn through, was registered (i.e. when the inner TiN or TiCN coating just becoming visible). In order to define a figure of merit for the intrinsic wear resistance of the Al₂O₃layers, the thickness (μm) of the Al₂O₃layer was divided by the above defined machining time (min). The results below express the wear rate figure of merit.

H) prior art κ-Al₂O₃layers 0.44 μm/min

J) invention TiN + γ-Al₂O₃ 0.40 μm/min

K) invention TiN + γ-Al₂O₃ 0.46 μm/min
From the above results it is obvious that the wear resistance of the fine-grained γ-Al[0050] ₂O₃layer suprisingly is as good as the wear resistance of the coarser-grained κ-Al₂O₃layer deposited by CVD technique.

EXAMPLE 5

Coated cutting inserts from I), J) and K) in Example 4 were tested under the same cutting conditions and cutting data as in Example 4. The machining time until a predetermined crater wear had developed on the rake face of the inserts was registered. The results below express said machining time until the predetermined crater wear. [0051]

I) prior art TiN 4 min

J) invention TiN + γ-Al₂O₃ 9 min

K) invention TiN + γ-Al₂O₃ 9.7 min
From the above results it is obvious that a top coating of the fine-grained γ-Al[0052] ₂O₃layer on PVD TiN considerably improves the crater wear resistance of the cutting tool.

EXAMPLE 6

L) Cemented carbide inserts of style CNMA 120412-KR having a composition of 6 w % Co and balance WC, coated with a first layer of 6 μm TiCN and thereafter with a top layer of 4.8 μm α-Al[0053] ₂O₃. Both the TiCN and the Al₂O₃layer were deposited by conventional CVD-technique. The Al₂O₃layer had an average grain size of 1 μm.
M) Cemented carbide inserts of the same style and composition as in L), first coated with an approximately 5 μm TiAlN layer and thereafter, without vacuum interruption, coated with a 4.4 μm fine-grained γ-Al[0054] ₂O₃layer, both layers deposited with the pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The deposition temperature was 600° C. and the process pressure was 1 μbar.
Coated inserts from L) and M) were then tested in a continuous turning operation in a low alloyed, non-hardened steel (SS2541). The crater wear of the cutting edges was measured. [0055]

Speed: 250 m/min

Feed: 0.25 mm/rev

Depth of cut: 2.0 mm

Coolant being used
The cutting operation was periodically interupted in order to measure the crater wear of the cutting edges. The crater wear was measured in an optical microscope. The machining time until the Al[0056] ₂O₃layer was worn through, was registered (i.e. when the inner TiCN or TIAlN coating just becoming visible). In order to define a f igure of merit for the intrinsic wear resistance of the Al₂O₃layers, the thickness (μm) of the Al₂O₃layer was divided by the above defined machining time (min). The results below express the wear rate figure of merit.

L) prior art α-Al₂O₃layers 0.69 μm/min

M) invention 0.73 μm/min
From the above results it is obvious that the wear resistance of the fine-grained γ-Al[0057] ₂O₃layer suprisingly is as good as the wear resistance of the coarser-grained α-Al₂O₃layer deposited by CVD technique.

Claims

1. Cutting tool comprising a body of sintered cemented carbide or cermet, ceramic or high speed steel substrate and on which at least on the functioning parts of the surface of the body, a 0.5 to 20 μm, preferably 1 to 15 μm, thick, adherent, hard and wear resistant coating is applied, and said coating is characterized in comprising a structure of one or more refractory compounds layer, of which at least one layer with a thickness of 0.5 to 15 μm, preferably 1-10 μm, essentially consists of very fine-grained, crystalline γ-Al₂O₃phase, said very fine-grained crystalline γ-Al₂O₃layer exhibiting significant X-ray diffraction reflexes from at least one of the (440) and (400) crystal planes, having a hardness of at least 20 GPa, a compressive stress of at least 1 GPa and being free from any halogen impurities.

2. Cutting tool according to

claim 1

characterized in that the Al₂O₃layer has a preferred growth orientation in the [440]-direction with a texture coefficient ≧1.5 defined as below:

TC (hk1) = \frac{I (hkl)}{I_{O} (hkl)} {\frac{1}{n} \sum \frac{I (hkl)}{I_{O} (hkl)}}^{- 1}

where

I(hkl)=measured intensity of the (hkl) reflection

I_o(hkl)=standard intensity from the ASTM standard powder pattern diffraction data

n=number of reflections used in the calculation (hkl) reflections used are: (111), (311), (222), (400) and (440)

3. Cutting tool according to any of the previous claims characterized in that the fine-grained crystalline γ-Al₂O₃layer contains portions (detectable by XRD technique) of additional alumina phases from the γ-series of the Al₂O₃polymorphs.

4. Cutting tool according to

claim 3

characterized in that the additional alumina phase is the θ-phase.

5. Cutting tool according to any of the previous claims characterized in having at least one layer of thickness 0.1-10 μm, preferably 0.5-5 μm, comprising of metal nitrides and/or carbides with the metal elements selected from Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, W and Al.

6. Cutting tool according to

claim 5

characterized in that said layer consists of TiC, TiCN, TiN or TiAlN.

7. Cutting tool according to any of the previous claims characterized in that the outer layer is Al₂O₃.

8. Cutting tool according to any of the claims 1-6 characterized in that the outer layer is TiN.

9. A process for producing a coated cutting tool, wherein at least one refractory layer consisting of fine-grained, crystalline γ-Al₂O₃as per

claim 1

, is deposited by magnetron sputtering onto the moving substrate in a vacuum, characterized in that the Al₂O₃layer is deposited by pulsed magnetron sputtering in an argon-containing gas, that the pulse frequency is set for 10 to 100 kHz, preferably 50 kHz, that deposition occurs with a rate of at least 1 nm/s with reference to a stationarily arranged substrate, that the magnetron target power density in time average is set for at least 10W/cm²and that the substrate temperature is set in the range 450 to 700° C., preferably in the range 550 to 650° C., depending on the material of the tool body being coated.

10. A process according to

claim 9

, characterized in that the Al₂O₃layer is deposited by the sputtering of two magnetrons with Al targets that are alternatively switched as a cathode and as a anode of a magnetron sputtering apparatus.

11. A process according to at least one of the claims 9 and 10 characterized in that additional, non-Al₂O₃layers are also deposited by a PVD process (Physical Vapor Depostion), particularly by pulsed magnetron sputtering.

12. A process according to

claim 11

, characterized in that all layers, Al₂O₃and non-Al₂O₃layer(s), are deposited in the same coating apparatus without vacuum interuption.

13. A process of at least one of the claims 9 and 10, characterized in that additional, non-Al₂O₃layers are applied by a CVD process (Chemical Vapor Deposition).