EPMA and quantitative MCs+-SIMS of metal-DLC coating materials

Compositional characterization of metal-DLC (metal-containing diamond-like carbon) hard coatings is carried out by (WDS)-EPMA and MCs+-SIMS. EPMA enab les accurate (+/- 5% relative) quantitative analysis including minor concen trations (0.1-10 at%) of N, O and Ar. Under conditions of "near-surface" EP MA (E-0 < 10 keV) the influence of surface oxide films on "pure" metal stan dards may be a limiting factor in respect of accuracy. Depth profiling of s ufficiently "thick" layered structures (film thickness greater than or equa l to 2 mu m) is carried out by EPMA-line scans along mechanically prepared bevels. The depth resolution is about 0.2 mu m. SIMS in the MCs+-mode enabl es high resolution (< 20 nm) depth profiling of metal-DLC layered structure s including the determination of H (1-20 at%). MCs+-SIMS, i.e. employing Cs + primary ions and monitoring MCs+ molecular secondary ions (M is the eleme nt of interest) is presented as a promising route towards sufficiently accu rate (10-20%) SIMS-quatification. Matrix-independent relative sensitivity f actors for MCs+-SIMS are derived from homogeneous coating materials defined by EPMA. EPMA proves to he also useful to detect problems related to SIMS of Ar in metal-DLC materials. The combination EPMA-SIMS is demonstrated as an effective analytical strategy for quality control in industrial producti on and to support the development of metal-DLC layered structures with opti mum tribological properties.