Tribological Properties of Nanocomposite CrCx/a-C:H Thin Films |
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Authors: | Gert Gassner Jörg Patscheider Paul H. Mayrhofer Saso Šturm Christina Scheu Christian Mitterer |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Physical Metallurgy and Materials Testing,Montanuniversit?t Leoben,Leoben,Austria;2.Laboratory for Nanoscale Materials Science, empa,Dübendorf,Switzerland;3.Department for Nanostructured Materials,Jo?ef Stefan Institute,Ljubljana,Slovenia |
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Abstract: | Recently we showed that coatings, prepared by unbalanced magnetron sputtering from a metallic Cr target in an Ar/CH4 discharge are composed of nanocrystalline CrC x embedded in an a-C:H matrix. This work investigates the structural correlation of such nanocomposite CrC x /a-C:H coatings to their tribological properties. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the phase composition and the chemical bonding in the films deposited at different experimental conditions. The coating microstructure was investigated on selected samples by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. For CrC x -dominated coatings deposited at CH4 partial to total pressure ratios (pCH4/pt) < 0.42, only minor changes regarding the friction coefficients and the abrasive wear rates were observed although microstructural changes towards a higher degree of crystallinity were proven by transmission electron microscopy and substantiated with XPS results. For a-C:H dominated coatings deposited at pCH4/pt > 0.42, the friction coefficients and abrasive wear rates were shown to decrease with increasing a-C:H phase content and its more sp2-like bonding configuration. It can be concluded that the microstructural changes in terms of CrC x crystallite coarsening and bonding configuration of the a-C:H matrix phase are responsible for the observed changes of the friction coefficients and wear rates. |
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Keywords: | CrC x a-C:H Magnetron sputtering Nanocomposite |
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