Abstract TiN and TiAlN monolayer as well as TiN/AlTiN multilayer were deposited by d.c. reactive magnetron sputtering using titanium and aluminum targets with 10 cm in diameter and 99.99% purity in an argon/nitrogen atmosphere, applying a substrate temperature of 300 °C and a pressure of 7 mbar. Silicon (100) and steel AISI M2 were utilized as substrate. The influence of aluminum content on the properties of TiAlN coatings was first investigated, afterwards the mechanical and tribological properties behavior of TiN/AlTiN coating were analyzed as function of multilayer number. For this purpose, the coatings chemical composition was determined by EDX spectroscopy, the crystalline structure through X‐ray diffractometry and its morphology using scanning electron microscopy. Hardness and adherence were determined by means of nanoindentation and scratch techniques respectively. Hardness increased from 18.9 GPa for 51%Al content in the TiAlN films up to 23.9 GPa for 66.7% Al. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)