Excimer-laser-assisted deposition of diamondlike carbon hard coatings

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited using the excimer laser assisted physical vapor deposition at room temperature. The films deposited at high vacuum (10-5 mbar) revealed more diamond-like character than under other atmospheres of argon and hydrogen. DLC- films can be deposited with a thickness more than 1 micrometers with the help of either an additional Ti-buffer layer or an in-situ laser treatment during the deposition. The adhesion of the films was qualitatively determined by using the indentation and bending tests. Additionally, the adhesion was found to be dependent on the power densities for the target ablation (IT) and for the in-situ laser treatment (IS), as well as, on the applied buffer layer. The roughness was found to be proportional to the film thickness at various surface morphologies of the substrate. The friction coefficient of DLC-films against steel (100Cr6) was found to be approximately 0.1 and the wear loss of the films was dependent on the properties of substrate material.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.