Microstructure and Nano-wear Property of Si-doped Diamond-like Carbon Films Deposited by a Hybrid Sputtering System

Diamond like carbon (DLC) films have been extensively studied over the past decades due to their unique combination of properties. In particular, silicon-doped DLC (Si-DLC) films have attracted significant attention for their tribological applications. However, most of the efforts were focusing on friction and wear properties in conventional load range, while nano-scale tribological behavior remains being less investigated. In this study, Si-doped DLC films were deposited by a hybrid sputtering system combining high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The Si concentration in the films was controlled by altering the Si target power. The influence of the Si target power on the microstructure, mechanical and nano-wear properties of the Si-DLC films were investigated. The influence of the microstrure variation on mechanical and nano-wear property of the films were further studied. The results indicated that the hardness value was significantly influenced by the Raman ID/IG ratio and the ID/IG ratio also played an important role in the nano-wear behavior of the Si-DLC films.