Studies of diamond-like carbon films prepared by ion beam-assisted deposition

Ion beam-assisted deposition offers a novel and unique process to prepare diamond-like carbon (DLC) films at room temperature, with particularly good interface adhesion. This advantage was explored in this study to deposit highly wear-resistant coating on bearing 52100 steel. Both dual ion beam sputtering and ion beam deposition were employed. Various bombarding species and energy were investigated to optimize the process. Raman, X-ray photoelectron and Auger electron spectroscopy were used to characterize the bonding structure of DLC. Extensive experiments were carried out to examine the tribological behaviour of the DLC/52100 system. A metal intermediate layer can help tremendously in wear resistance. The results are optimistic and may lead to useful applications.