Abstract
This paper is a review of a unique family of refractory compounds comprising the boride, carbide and nitride of titanium. These materials are characterized by high hardness, high wear resistance and chemical inertness. They are obtained as coatings by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a variety of substrates such as tool steel, cemented carbides, graphite and many others. Promising deposition techniques are plasma-CVD and metallo-organic CVD. Major applications of these coatings are found in wear, erosion and corrosion protection and in cutting tools