Design of Cu- and Ag-containing amorphous carbon multilayers with improved tribo-mechanical properties

The modification of amorphous carbon (a-C) films by adding either Cu or Ag is a common approach to tailor the film properties. These films become less hard, while they demonstrate higher friction and lower wear resistance than a-C. To enhance tribologically relevant features, multilayers of alternating a-C and a-C:Cu or a-C:Ag layers are synthetized by magnetron sputtering. The a-C/a-C:Cu and a-C/a-C:Ag multilayers possess a bilayer period of-200 nm, a layer ratio of 1, and a bilayer number of 5. These structures are characterized by higher hardness and lower friction and wear against 100Cr6 counterparts as compared to monolayered a-C:Cu and a-C:Ag. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.