Non-destructive, in situ measurements of diamond-like-carbon film hardnessusing Raman and Rayleigh scattering

Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coatings have recently proven to be suitable for a number of tribological applications. Hardness of the DCL coating is very important for such application, An in-situ, non-destructive technique to me asure the film hardness would be crucial for process control and quality co ntrol of DLC coatings. In this study, Raman and Rayleigh scattering were-in vestigated as potential techniques for nondestructive measurements of DLC f ilm hardness, Features in both Raman and Rayleigh spectra were correlated w ith film hardness as measured by nano-indentation technique. Regarding the Raman spectra of the film, a linear correlation was found between film hard ness and area under diamond related peak at 1332 cm(-1). Regarding the Rayl eigh scattering, a linear relationship was, also, found between the film ha rdness and the height of the Rayleigh line. Raman and Rayleigh scattering h ave shown huge potential to be used as non-destructive, in-situ techniques to measure DLC coating hardness, Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.