Study on the Tribological Properties of Graphite-like Amorphous Carbon Film under Different Testing Conditions

Graphite-like amorphous carbon film was fabricated by unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique.Raman spectroscopy,atomic force microscopy(AFM)and tribometer were subsequently used to investigate the microstructure and tribological properties of the resultant film.It is found that the deposited carbon film is dominated by sp 2 sites,and the intensity ratio of the D and G peaks is as high as 4.0,which is one order of magnitude larger than that of diamond-like carbon films with high sp 3 content,indicating a more graphite-like structure.However,the as-deposited carbon film exhibits moderately high hardness(13.7 GPa),low internal stress(0.38 GPa)and superior tribological properties with high load bearing capacity(Hertz contact stress about 3.2 GPa)and low wear rate(2.73×10-10 cm3/N.m)in ambient atmosphere.Although it displays a poor wear resistance in water lubricated condition,a superior wear resistance is achieved in oil lubricated condition.Its inherent physical property,the formation of transfer layer and the friction induced chemical reactions may be commonly responsible for its tribological properties.