Effect of Fe ion implantation on tribological properties and Raman spectra characteristics of diamond-like carbon film

Fe ions in the fluence range of 2 × 1015 to 1×1017 cm -2 were implanted into diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin film of 100 nm thick, which were deposited on silicon substrate by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition.Effects of Fe ion implantation on microstructure and friction coefficient of the DLC were studied. With increasing Fe ion fluence, friction coefficient of the DLC film increased as compared with that of DLC without implantation, and then decreased. The Raman spectra characteristics also show a dependence on the Fe ion fluence. With increasing the ion fluence, the sp2 bonding increased in the DLC film, resulting in the decrease of friction coefficient of the film after implantation. Substantial surface roughness was also measured.