ADHERENT DIAMOND-LIKE CARBON COATINGS ON METALS VIA PLASMA SOURCE ION-IMPLANTATION

Various techniques are currently used to produce diamond-like carbon ( DLC) coatings on various materials. Many of these techniques use metal lic interlayers, such as Ti or Si, to improve the adhesion of a DLC co ating to a ferrous substrate. An alternative processing route would be to use plasma source ion implantation (PSII) to create a carbon compo sition gradient in the surface of the ferrous material to serve as the interface for a DLC coating. The need for interlayer deposition is el iminated by using a such a graded interface. A PSII approach has been used to form adherent DLC coatings on magnesium, aluminum, silicon, ti tanium, chromium, brass, nickel and tungsten. A PSII process tailored to create a graded interface allows deposition of adherent DLC coating s even on metals that exhibit a positive heat of formation with carbon , such as magnesium, iron, brass and nickel. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.