Characterization of nitrogen-doped a-C:H films deposited by cathodic-arc activated deposition process

Nitrogen-doped Cr-C:H/N films containing chromium were synthesized by using cathodic-are activated deposition (CAAD) process. Metal plasma with intensive ion energies catalyzes the decomposition of hydrocarbon gas C2H2), and results in the deposition of amorphous carbon films. Nitrogen was introduced to form nitrogen-containing Cr-C:H/N films, which contained a mixture of sp(2) and sp(3) carbon bonds. The deposited carbon films consist of nano-composite Cr-C:H/N films on top of a graded chromium nitride interlayer. The wear properties were correlated with the nitrogen doping. Cr-C:H/N films exhibits steady state friction coefficients lower than 0.11 when deposited at low N-2/C2H2 flow rate ratio ( < 15%). Cr-C:H/N possesses improved wear properties, resulting from its adhered dense microstructure and the nature of the transferred layer induced by the friction condition between the Cr-C:H/N coatings and the sliding counterpart. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.