Tribological properties of diamond-like nanocomposite coatings at high temperatures

Diamond-like nanocomposites (DLN) films are amorphous and consist of C, H, Si, and O. In addition, metal atoms can be incorporated into the coatings. The DLN coatings exhibit a low coefficient of friction, low wear rate, low stress, high hardness and good adhesion on a variety of substrates. The thermal stability of DLN films deposited on silicon substrates was investigated after the samples had been thermally annealed in air and argon atmospheres. The sample analysis by micro-Raman spectroscopy, nano-indentation and ball-on-disk tribometry are reported here. The investigation revealed that the performance of DLN films from a tribological perspective is very good up to 400 degrees C in air. The hardness of the DLN films showed a decrease of less than 15% up to 400 degrees C in air. The wear rate of the DLN films was at or below 10(-7) mm(3)/Nm up to 400 degrees C in air. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.