NANOCOMPOSITE nc-TiC/a-C:H FILMS FABRICATED BY DUAL PLASMA TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Nanocomposite nc-TiC / a-C : H films have been deposited via filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique, employing Ti target and C 2 H 2 gas as material precursors. The composition and nanostructure of film, correlated to mechanical and tribological properties of film, are varied by changing C 2 H 2 flow rate and filter coil current. Glancing angle X-ray diffraction has been used to show that salient TiC (111) peak exists in film with grain size of order of 8–10 nm, as a function of filter coil current. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) investigations demonstrate that the nc-TiC / a-C : H films mainly contain nanocrystalline graphite and sp 2 -bonded carbon, both as a function of C 2 H 2 flow rate. Mechanical tests confirm that the nc-TiC / a-C : H films possess superior hardness of 33.9 GPa and elastic modulus of 237.6 GPa.