Plastic deformation of TiN5 (nm)/SiN0.5 (nm) multilayers by nanoindentation was investigated by transmission electron microscopy in order to identify deformation mechanisms involved in film failure resulting from severe plastic deformation. The TiN layers exhibited a crystalline fcc structure with a [002] preferential orientation; further crystal growth was interrupted by the amorphous SiNx layers. After severe plastic deformation collective vertical displacement of slabs of several TiN/SiNx-bilayers, which resulted from shear sliding at TiN/TiN grain boundaries, was observed. They are, together with horizontal fractures along the SiNx layers, vertical cracks under the indenter tip following the TiN grain boundaries and delamination from the substrate, the predominant failure mechanisms of these coatings. The deformation behaviour of these films provides an experimental support for the absence of dislocation activity in grains of 5 nm size. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.