Researches on the dependence between processing conditions and some tribological properties of TI-SI-C thin films

Ti-Si-C thin-films were prepared by d.c.reactive magneron sputtered on (AISIS M2) steel sample, at 200 degrees C. The depositions were carried out from Ti targets, one with some Si and the other with C pieces incrusted in the erosion zone, working in a simultaneously mode, under the variation of d.c. power applied to the targets. During the deposition process, all the samples were based with a bias voltage of -70V. The atomic composition of a deposited samples was measured by electron probe microanalsis (EPMA) in a Cameca SX-50 apparatus. A tribological characterization for the prepared thin-filims has been done, taking into account the differen measurement of roughness, static friction coefficient and wear. The results revealed that there is no clear correlation between the tribological paramenters, and the general wear behaviour could be explained considering the films composition. Thus, the best results were registered for C/Si ratio (at.%) between 2.2- 5.2, corresponding to a current ration I-Tic/I-TiSi(A) between 1.4-2.9.