Wear resistant carbon coatings deposited at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition method on 7075 aluminum alloy

This paper presents the results of a study on the influence of the parameters (pressure and composition of the process atmosphere) of the deposition of carbon coatings on aluminum alloy 7075 by the PLD method on their selected mechanical properties. The study correlated the sp2/sp3 ratio and the relative fraction of CH2/CH3 groups formed during coating deposition with the hardness distribution, adhesion, friction and wear resistance of the analyzed systems. Carbon coatings with a titanium interlayer were found to be characterized by the highest adhesion (Lc = 6.9 mN). The introduction of nitrogen at the stage of the deposition of both the interlayer and/or the final carbon layer decreased the maximum adhesion of the coating, while, in this system, the highest value of adhesion Lc was obtained in the presence of nitrogen at the stage of the deposition of both the TiN interlayer and the a:CN carbon coating (Lc = 4.6 mN).