Atomic and electronic structural studies of VN/MgO (001) interface by an image-side Cs-corrected electron microscope

Transition metal nitrides are extremely hard materials, which are often used in multilayered coatings, where the coating hardness even exceeds the hardness of the constituent monophase nitrides [1-2]. Such coatings are promising for applications in which high hardness and wear resistances are needed. A model system of epitaxially grown VN film on MgO is particularly interesting to obtain a basic understanding of the interfacial atomic and electronic structure at the atomic scale, which is very crucial for reliable applications.