Nano-wear mechanism of amorphous carbon thin films

Tribological performance of diamond-like carbon (DLC) overcoat on a magnetic hard disk was evaluated using a contact start stop wear tester. The analysis of worn surfaces suggests that wear of the carbon overcoat took place by a delamination type of wear mechanism at a nanoscale, resulting in the formation of wear particles of about 1.5 nm thick and 30–90 nm wide.