Mechanical and tribological properties of nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon thin films

• Main Author: Dinesh Krishna Mohan
• Other Authors: Liu Erjia
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Microelectronics and semiconductor materials::Thin films
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/41436
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are a novel type of carbon materials, which have witnessed rapid developments over the past few years. The amorphous forms of carbon materials indicated by a-C, a-C:H and a-C:Me are also called as DLC. The unique properties of DLC, such as a low friction coefficient combined with a high hardness and wear resistance, have helped DLC in finding its way in modern industries. In DLC film, the sp3 bonds are responsible for the mechanical properties, whereas the electronic and optical properties of the film are controlled by sp2 bonds. However DLC has its own drawbacks, which limited its applications. Doping of various elements like nitrogen and hydrogen can modify the properties of DLC films. So in the present study, nitrogen doped DLC films with various concentrations of nitrogen were deposited on the silicon substrates using a magnetron sputtering system, to explore the effects of nitrogen on the film properties.