Comparative surface and nano-tribological characteristics of nanocomposite diamond-like carbon thin films doped by silver

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2008.07.193
• Publication Date: 2008-08-10T08:13:36Z
• Authors: H.-S. Zhang; J.L. Endrino; A. Anders
• Keywords: Thin Films; Topography; Silver; Nanocomposite; Tribology; Friction; 36; Roughness; 01 natural sciences; Carbon; Atomic Force Microscopy; Plasma; X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Diamond-Like Carbon; Diamond-Like Carbon; 0103 physical sciences; Adhesion; Mechanical Properties; Hydrogenation; Hybridization

In this study we have deposited silver-containing hydrogenated and hydrogen-free diamond-like carbon (DLC) nanocomposite thin films by plasma immersion ion implantation-deposition methods. The surface and nano-tribological characteristics were studied by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nano-scratching experiments. The silver doping was found to have no measurable effect on sp2-sp3 hybridization of the hydrogenated DLC matrix and only a slight effect on the hydrogen-free DLC matrix. The surface topography was analyzed by surface imaging. High- and low-order roughness determined by AFM characterization was correlated to the DLC growth mechanism and revealed the smoothing effect of silver. The nano-tribological characteristics were explained in terms of friction mechanisms and mechanical properties in correlation to the surface characteristics. It was discovered that the adhesion friction was the dominant friction mechanism; the adhesion force between the scratching tip and DLC surface was decreased by hydrogenation and increased by silver doping.