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Laser Deposited and Annealed ta‐C Films on Different Types of Steel Substrates
Author(s) -
Wätje Kerstin,
Schey Bernd,
Thorwarth Götz,
Kuhn Marcus,
Stritzker Bernd
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.200730711
Subject(s) - materials science , fluence , diamond like carbon , composite material , annealing (glass) , amorphous carbon , amorphous solid , laser , carbon film , substrate (aquarium) , metallurgy , thin film , nanotechnology , optics , crystallography , chemistry , physics , oceanography , geology
High laser pulse energy fluence as well as substrate temperatures below 100 °C were found to be necessary for the formation of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta‐C) films with high sp 3 content and high hardness. In order to reduce the compressive stress in such ta‐C films, both thermal and laser annealing were applied. Both methods allow the manufacturing of diamond like carbon (DLC) films with a thickness of several micrometers and a good adhesion to Si substrates. The nanohardness of those films was measured to be 55–60 GPa whereas the density was 3.0–3.1 g · cm −3 . To improve the adhesion of ta‐C on steel, different materials were tested as intermediate layers. Excellent adhesion properties were found using a WC interlayer. Ball‐on‐disc tests show outstanding wear resistance of these ta‐C coatings on a variety of different steel substrates.