Tribological Properties of a-CWx Film Deposited by RF Magnetron Co-sputtering Method

초록

Carbon-based thin film has been studied in various fields because this film has high hardness, low wear rate, low friction coefficient, lubrication performance, electrical resistance, chemical inertness, and optical transparency. In this study, we synthesized the tungsten doped amorphous carbon (a-CWx) film on silicon substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering method. Carbon (C) and tungsten (W) components were deposited simultaneously on the silicon substrate by co-sputtering method. To evaluate the tungsten content effect on the tribological properties of a-CWx film, the applied power on the carbon target was fixed as 150 W and the applied powers on the tungsten target were varied as 20, 30, 40, and 50 W. The properties of a-CWx films were investigated by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), friction force microscope (FFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), hardness, and scratch test. Our results showed the increase of W content in the a-CWx film at higher RF power of W target. Also the hardness, adhesion, and friction of a-CWx films increased according to the RF power of W target.