Nano-wear mechanism of amorphous carbon thin films

Tribological performance of diamond-like carbon (DLC) overcoat on a magnetic hard disk was evaluated using a contact start stop wear tester. The analysis of worn surfaces suggests that wear of the carbon overcoat took place by a delamination type of wear mechanism at a nanoscale, resulting in the formation of wear particles of about 1.5 nm thick and 30–90 nm wide. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.