The present invention relates to a
cutting tool comprising a body of sintered
cemented carbide or
cermet,
ceramic or
high speed steel on which at least one of the functioning parts of the surface of the body, a thin, adherent, hard and
wear resistant coating is applied. The
coating comprises a laminar, multilayered structure of
refractory compounds in polycrystalline, non-repetitive form, MX / NX / MX / NX where the alternating
layers MX and NX are
metal nitrides or carbides with the
metal elements M and N selected from the group consisting of Ti, Nb, Hf, V, Ta, Mo, Zr, Cr, Al and W. The sequence of individual layer thicknesses is essentially aperiodic throughout the entire multilayered structure, and layer thicknesses are larger than 0.1 nanometer but smaller than 30 nanometer, preferably smaller than 20 nanometer. The
total thickness of said multilayered
coating is larger than 0.5 mu m but smaller than 20 mu m.