Enhanced anti-tribocorrosion property of a-C film under high hydrostatic pressure by high power pulsed magnetron sputter (HiPIMS)

In this study, the amorphous carbon (a-C) films were deposited using HiPIMS and DCMS at same average power. The composition, microstructure and the anti-tribocorrosion property at hydrostatic pressure environment were investigated in detail. The results showed the HiPIMS:a-C film exhibited a higher fraction of sp3 bonding (59 %) compared to DCMS. The increased sp3 fraction led to improved mechanical properties and significantly enhanced the film's capacity loading during sliding. Furthermore, due to the denser structure, the HiPIMS:a-C film demonstrated enhanced localized corrosion resistance at 30 MPa, which can be attributed to its lower defect density. These findings highlight the substantial advantage of HiPIMS in producing high-performance a-C films suitable for harsh deep-sea environments.