Patent ID: 8460803

Claim:
A hard coating layer which is formed by a PVD method and coats a predetermined substrate, wherein the hard coating layer including Si and C as essential components, and an element M and N as optional components, the element M including at least one of elements selected from among group 3 A elements, group 4 A elements, group 5 A elements, group 6 A elements, B, Al, and Ru, the hard coating layer having a composition of Si x C 1-x-y-z N y M z (where 0.4≦x≦0.6, 0≦y≦0.1, and 0≦z≦0.2), wherein a full width of half maximum of an SiC peak observed at a diffraction angle between 34° and 36° is equal to or smaller than 3° when X-ray diffraction (XRD) is measured with a CuKα ray.