GDOES is a rapid depth profiling technique. This analysis is destructive and there is a formation of sputter craters on the sample surface. In this work the depth profiling method GDOES is used for determining the thickness of TiAlN coating after determining the sputtering rate, as well as the crater microstructure. The GDOES depth profiles were measured by means of spectrometer GDS 750, Leco. The obtained data were compared with the thickness values obtained from the optical microscopy and the

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... SEM fracture cross-sections. Structure of sputter craters after GDOES experiment at different coating depths were evaluated by the optical microscopy and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The crater shape and depth were measured by means of Perthometer. The investigated TiAlN coatings were deposited on tool steel AISI D2 of Uddeholm Company under the trade name Sverker 21 by cathode arc evaporation technique (BAI 1200) in Balzers (Kapfenberg, Austria).