In the system TiC-TiB 2 -B 4 C-SiC, multilayer coatings with 10, 100 and 1000 individual layers, and a total thickness of 5 μm, were prepared by magnetron sputtering. The microstructure of these coatings was examined by X-ray diffraction, AES, and transmission electron microscopy.While the constitution of single layers in SiC-TiC, SiC-TiB 2 , B 4 C-TiB 2 , and B 4 C-SiC multilayer coatings corresponds to the microstructure of single phase coatings of the same thickness, in TiC-TiB 2 coatings the texture of the individual layers is also influenced by the texture of the previous layer. The occurence of mixing zones between the layers depends on the materials, but also on the crystallinity of the previous layer. These results show that an optimization of multilayer coatings is possible by deposition of individual layers with different thickness.