Patent ID: 7799420

Claim:
A tool, comprising: a nanostructure including: a substrate; and a functional coating deposited on the substrate, the functional coating including a matrix phase and at least one nano-scale interstitial phase embedded in the matrix phase; wherein the functional coating is free of at least one of chlorine and sulfur and contains at least one of a metal and at least one element corresponding to one of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, helium, argon, and neon, wherein the matrix phase is one of amorphous, metallic, microcrystalline, and crystalline, and the at least one nano-scale interstitial phase includes a nanocrystalline interstitial phase with a mean grain size of 1 nm to 100 nm, wherein the nanostructure is produced by causing at least one plasma source to produce a pulsed plasma, with which a matrix phase and at least one nano-scale interstitial phase embedded therein are deposited on a substrate via a material input, and wherein the matrix phase is made of one of a metal, an alloy, a silicon nitride, MoSi 2 , amorphous carbon, and DLC (diamond-like carbon), and wherein a metal oxide is embedded as the nano-scale interstitial phase.