Properties of amorphous carbon layers for bio-tribological applications

This paper analyses the influence of composition, structure and adhesion of amorphous coatings with high wear resistance, low friction coefficient and good adhesion to coated CrCoMo material for parts of implants. By different deposition techniques, different mechanical and tribological properties were obtained. This work reviews amorphous carbon (a-C) films deposited by magnetron sputtering and diamond-like carbon (DLC) films grown by glow arc discharge technology on CrCoMo substrates. Films were investigated under static load under dry conditions (nanohardness, elastic module), and also with dynamic load (coefficient of friction, wear resistance). The following topics were investigated: surfaces and subsurface properties of a-C films, namely adhesion in connection with different techniques, different film properties in dependence on various technology conditions.