The effect of applied substrate negative bias voltage on the structure and properties of Al-containing a-C:H thin films

Al-containing hydrogenated amorphous carbon (Al-C:H) films were prepared using a magnetron sputtering Al target in the CH₄ and Ar mixture atmosphere with various applied substrate pulse negative bias voltages. The hydrogen content and internal stress of the film decrease dramatically with the substrate pulse bias voltage increase. However, the hardness values of the films keep at high level (∼ 20 GPa) without any obvious changes with the increase of the applied substrate pulse bias voltages. The Al-C:H film prepared at applied substrate high bias voltage shows a long wear life and low friction coefficient.