Microtribology of nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon coatings

The friction, wear and lubrication of carbon nitride coatings on silicon substrates are studied using a spherical diamond counter-face with nano-scale asperities. The first part of this paper clarifies the coating thickness effect on frictional behavior of carbon nitride coatings. The second part of this paper reports empirical data on wear properties in repeated sliding contacts through in situ examination and post-sliding observation. The third part will concentrate on wear mechanisms for the transition from "No observable wear particles" to "Wear particle generation." In light of the above tribological study, the application of carbon nitride coatings to MicroElectroMechanical system (MEMS) is therefore discussed from view points of both microtribology and micromachining.