Study on microstructure and tribological properties of graphite-like carbon films

Graphite-like carbon films were deposited on DC53 steel substrate by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The microstructures of the resultant films were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD), respectively. Ball-on-disc tribometer was employed to analyze the tribological properties of the film. The results show that the films were dominated by sp(2) sites. The surfaces are uniform and dense, the sectional morphology of the films present dense columnar crystal. The films have superior tribological properties under different loads, including low friction coefficient (0.18-0.33) and low wear rate (2.53x10(-17)m(3)/(N.m)- 8.47x10(-17)m(3)/(N.m)).