Solid nanocrystalline fullerite-containing carbon coatings

Solid carbon coatings with a high content of nanocrystalline fullerite have been obtained using unbalanced magnetron sputtering of graphite under conditions of pulsed high-voltage ion bombardment of the film growing on a substrate. It is established that samples possessing the maximum hardness (18.8 GPa) are characterized by maximum values of the volume fraction of fullerite in the coating (50%), coherent scattering domain size (53 nm), degree of preferred grain orientation (85%), relative deformation of the lattice (1.02%), and internal compressive stresses (2.91 GPa). The observed behavior is consistent with the mechanism of strengthening that accounts for the phenomenon of superhardness in nanocrystalline and nanocomposite materials. This assumption is confirmed by the results of investigation of the morphology of growing coatings.