Superlow friction of titanium/silicon codoped hydrogenated amorphous carbon film in the ambient air

Titanium/silicon codoped hydrogenated carbon film was deposited on the n-Si (100) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering Ti80Si20 target in a mixture of argon and methane. Microstructure of the film was investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The investigations have revealed that the film has an amorphous structure and consists of high sp² hybridized carbon atoms and bonding hydrogen atoms. The mechanical and tribological properties were evaluated using a nanoindentor and a ball-on-disk tribometer, respectively. The film exhibits hardness of 9.6 GPa, high elastic recovery of 73.0% and high H/E ratio of 0.156. Most significant, the superlow friction (μ<0.01) and special low wear rate (2.4× 10^-7 mm³ N^-1 m^-1) was observed in ambient air with 40% relative humidity. Combining the results of scanning electron microscopy and Raman analyses of the worn surface, it is concluded that some mechanisms, e.g., transfer films, friction-induced graphitization, hydrogen-terminated carbon surface, tribochemical reaction, etc., could be together responsible for this superlow friction in the ambient air.