Tribological and mechanical properties of diamond-like carbon prepared by high-density plasma

Abstract

Diamond-like carbon films (DLC) have been deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using a commercial r.f. high-density plasma (HDP). The hardness and elastic modulus have been determined from force-displacement curves using a nanoindentation instrument. The friction coefficients and wear rates have been measured using a pin-on-flat tribometer in ambient air and UHV at maximum Hertzian contact pressure of 1.09 GPa. It was found that the hardness, Young's modulus, and wear resistance of the films increased with decreasing hydrogen content of the films. A viscoplastic behavior has been observed for films with hydrogen content higher than 30% indicating that these films have a softer 'polymer-like' structure. The unbound hydrogen present in the HDP films contributes to the enhancement of the viscoplastic behavior of the film and to the decrease of the friction in UHV. The correlation between viscoplastic properties, film structure and tribological behavior of the HDP films is presented and compared to those obtained with samples prepared by d.c. PECVD. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.