Tribological behaviour of Ti containing nanocomposite DLC films under milli-Newton load range

In recent days nanocomposite films deposited by various CVD or PVD techniques are receiving intense attention because of their high hardness or high toughness. These films are considered to be potential layers for tribological applications. The present investigation is undertaken to evaluate the tribological behaviour of a nanocomposite Ti containing diamond like carbon film in the load range of milli-Newtons keeping in view the possible application in micro mechanical assemblies (MMA). Towards that purpose, films containing various Ti concentrations are deposited with the help of unbalanced magnetron sputter deposition technique. The tribological properties of these films are evaluated at 500 mN applied load. It is noted that the film containing 46 at % Ti has the maximum hardness in the order of 15.5 GPa and also very high plastic deformation. This film also shows a very low friction coefficient and wear rate.