Tribological performance of Nb-C thin films prepared by DC and HiPIMS

•Nb-C coatings have been prepared by DC and HiPIMS.•A coating densification by changing from DC to HiPIMS was not observed.•Higher amount and clustering of a-C:H is formed in HiPIMS vs.DC at comparative C at.%•Good tribological properties are obtained for samples with high C content (>50 at.%) Na...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials letters 2020-10, Vol.277, p.128334, Article 128334
Main Authors: Sala, N., Abad, M.D., Sánchez-López, J.C., Cruz, M., Caro, J., Colominas, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coefficient of friction
Composition
Crystal structure
Densification
Direct current
Friction
Magnetic properties
Magnetron sputtering
Materials science
Nanocomposites
Niobium carbide
Physical vapour deposition
Sputtering
Thin films
Tribology
Wear and tribology
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Summary:•Nb-C coatings have been prepared by DC and HiPIMS.•A coating densification by changing from DC to HiPIMS was not observed.•Higher amount and clustering of a-C:H is formed in HiPIMS vs.DC at comparative C at.%•Good tribological properties are obtained for samples with high C content (>50 at.%) Nanostructured NbC thin films with variable contents of Nb and C were prepared by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering, and for the first time, via high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) searching for an improvement in the tribological properties. X-ray diffraction shows that increasing the carbon incorporation, the crystalline composition evolves from Nb2C to NbC phase. Further carbon enrichment leads to a nanocomposite structure formed by small NbC crystals (8–14 nm) dispersed in a-C matrix. The friction coefficient varied from high friction (0.8) to low friction (0.25) and the hardness values between 20 and 11 GPa depending on the film composition. A densification of the coatings by changing the methodology from DC to HiPIMS was not observed.
ISSN:0167-577X
1873-4979
DOI:10.1016/j.matlet.2020.128334