A study of the structural and mechanical properties of Ti=MoS2 coatings deposited by closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating

Abstract

The closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating system has been used to produce MoS2 coatings by co-deposition of Ti and MoS2. Previous results have shown that the coatings are harder than pure MoS2 coatings and that they show very low coefficient of friction and longer lifetimes. These Ti=MoS2 coatings show excellent wear resistance at high loads. The coefficient of friction is as low as 0.02 at a relative humidity of 40%, and conventional adhesion scratch tests indicate critical loads in excess of 120 N. This paper presents a study of the composition, structure and mechanical properties of these metal=MoS2 composite coatings using several analytical techniques (RBS, ERDA, XRD, scratch test, SEM and EDS). The analytical results are discussed and related to the mechanical properties of the coatings.