Xm. He et al., IBAD PROCESSING OF SURFACE-COATINGS AND NANOCRYSTALLINE MULTILAYERS, Journal of materials processing technology, 63(1-3), 1997, pp. 902-907
Multi-functional ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) equipment with 8
targets and 4 ion sources has been developed to synthesize coatings an
d multi-layers of many combinations. DLC, TiN, TiC coatings have been
investigated with special attention paid to DLC. It is found that a na
rrow energy window exists at about 200 eV in order to serve more promi
nent diamond bondings and diamond-like properties. The surface is hard
and smooth with a friction coefficient of less than 0.05. The improve
ment of the interfacial structure enables DLC coatings on 52100 steel
to sustain uniform wear at high wear loads (up to 120 N). Applications
of DLC and other coatings in material surface modification are being
explored. By alternate sputtering, TiC/Metal multi-layers have been pr
epared. The individual Layers vary in thickness from 1 to 10 nm and th
e periods vary from 3 to 18 nm. The ceramic phase has been maintained
as TiC, whilst Fe, Cr, Nb, Zr, Ni, Cu and Al have been used as the met
al phase. The hardness and toughness of these laminated nanocrystallin
e films have teen investigated, the results showing the dependence of
the properties on the modulation of the multi-layers as well as on the
characteristics of the metal phase.