Structural and tribological characteristics of carbon nitride films deposited by the reactive ionized-cluster beam technique

A reactive ionized-cluster beam deposition system was used to synthesize ca rbon nitride films. Raman scattering analysis shows the existence of a char acteristic peak due to covalent C-N single bonds. This is consistent with t he results of Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectrosco pic measurements. The deposited films exhibit an extremely high hardness of 6200 kgf mm(-2). The friction and wear behavior of these films without any lubrication were measured by a reciprocating-motion ball-on-disk tribomete r. It is noted that the deposited films have low initial and steady-state f riction coefficients in the range 0.08-0.14. The wear rates of carbon nitri de films are significantly lower than that of carbon thin films prepared by the same deposition system and evaluated under similar test conditions. Th ese results are very encouraging for the tribological applications of carbo n nitride films. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.