A cutting tool including a base material and a hard layer provided on the base material, in which the hard layer is composed of a compound represented by Ti.sub.aAl.sub.bB.sub.cN, an atomic ratio a is 0.25 or more and less than 0.55, an atomic ratio b of is 0.45 or more and less than 0.75, an atomic ratio c of is more than 0 and 0.1 or less, a sum of the atomic ratio a, the atomic ratio b and the atomic ratio c is 1, a ratio I.sub.(200)/I.sub.(002) of an intensity I.sub.(200) of an X-ray diffraction peak of a (200) plane to an intensity I.sub.(002) of an X-ray diffraction peak of a (002) plane in the hard layer is 2 to 10, and a full width at half maximum of the X-ray diffraction peak of the (002) plane is 2 degrees to 8 degrees.

A coated cutting tool including a substrate and a coating layer formed on the substrate, wherein the coating layer has an alternately laminated structure of a first layer and a second layer, the first layer contains a compound having a composition represented by (Al.sub.aTi.sub.1-a)N (0.80 ≤ a ≤ 0.95), the second layer contains a compound having a composition represented by (Al.sub.bM.sub.cTi.sub.1-b-c)N (M represents at least one of Si or B, 0.80 ≤ b ≤ 0.95, and 0 < c ≤ 0.20), a and b satisfy |a-b| ≤ 0.05, and an average thickness of the alternately laminated structure is 1.0 .Math.m or more and 10.0 .Math.m or less.

Provided are a metal nitride material for a thermistor, which exhibits high reliability and high heat resistance and can be directly deposited on a film or the like without firing, a method for producing the metal nitride material for a thermistor, and a film type thermistor sensor. The metal nitride material for a thermistor consists of a metal nitride represented by the general formula: Ti.sub.xAl.sub.y(N.sub.1-wO.sub.w).sub.z (where 0.70≦y/(x+y)≦0.95, 0.45≦z≦0.55, 0<w≦0.35, and x+y+z=1), and the crystal structure thereof is a hexagonal wurtzite-type single phase.

A surface-coated boron nitride sintered body tool is provided, in which at least a cutting edge portion includes a cubic boron nitride sintered body and a coating film formed on a surface of the cubic boron nitride sintered body. The coating film includes an A layer and a B layer. The A layer is formed of columnar crystals each having a particle size of 10 nm or more and 400 nm or less. The B layer is formed of columnar crystals each having a particle size of 5 nm or more and 70 nm or less. The B layer is formed by alternately stacking two or more compound layers having different compositions. The compound layers each have a thickness of 0.5 nm or more and 300 nm or less.

Provided is a hard coating having, in particular, excellent oxidation resistance, high hardness, and excellent abrasion resistance as compared with conventional hard coatings such as TiSiN, TiAlSiN, TiCrAlSiN, and AlCrSiN coatings. The hard coating according to the present invention has a compositional formula of (Ti.sub.αCr.sub.1-α).sub.1-aGe.sub.a(C.sub.1-xN.sub.x), where the atomic ratios of the elements satisfy the expressions: 0≦α≦1, 0.010≦a≦0.20, and 0.5≦x≦1.

A method for surface treatment of a metal material in a powder state is provided, the method including obtaining a powder formed from a plurality of particles of the metal material to be treated; and subjecting the powder to an ion implantation process by directing a beam of singly-charged or multi-charged ions towards an outer surface of the particles, the beam being produced by a source of singly-charged or multi-charged ions, whereby the particles have an overall spherical shape with a radius (R). There is also provided a material in a powder state formed from a plurality of particles having a ceramic outer layer and a metal core, the particles having an overall spherical shape.

A thin-film deposition system deposits a thin-film on a wafer. A radiation source irradiates the wafer with excitation light. An emissions sensor detects an emission spectrum from the wafer responsive to the excitation light. A machine learning based analysis model analyzes the spectrum and detects contamination of the thin-film based on the spectrum.

The present disclosure provides a film forming method and an aluminum nitride film forming method for a semiconductor device. The film forming method for a semiconductor device includes performing multiple sputtering routes sequentially. Each sputtering routes includes: loading a substrate into a chamber; moving a shielding plate between a target and the substrate; introducing an inert gas into the chamber to perform a surface modification process on the target; performing a pre-sputtering to pre-treat a surface of the target; moving the shielding plate away from the substrate, and performing a main sputtering on the substrate to form a film on the substrate; and moving the substrate out of the chamber.

A cladding tube, a fuel rod and a fuel assembly are disclosed. The cladding tube comprises a tubular base component having an outer surface and an inner surface defining an inner space of the cladding tube housing a pile of fuel pellets. The tubular base component is made of a Zr-based alloy. A coating is applied onto the outer surface for protecting the tubular base component from mechanical wear, oxidation and hydriding. The Zr-based alloy has the following composition: Zr=balance, Al=0-2 wt %, Ti=0-20 wt %, Sn=0-6 wt %, Fe=0-0.4 wt %, Nb=0-0.4 wt %, O=200-1800 wtppm, C=0-200 wtppm, Si=0-200 wtppm, and S=0-200 wtppm. The total amount of Al+Ti+Sn>2.5 wt % and ≤28 wt %.

Provided are: a novel electrode which is suitable for use in an input device as typified by a capacitive touch panel sensor, and which has low electrical resistivity and low reflectance; and a method for producing this electrode. This electrode has a multilayer structure comprising a first layer that is formed of an Al film or an Al alloy film and a second layer that is partially nitrided and is formed of an Al alloy containing Al and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Cu, Ti and Ta.