Abstract
Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are widely known for their attractive properties. High adhesion between coating and substrate is necessary to ensure these properties. The bombardment by energetic species during growth tends to generate high intrinsic compressive stresses levels, which have several consequences in coating performance. However, this problem can be solved with the deposition of a thin interlayer with intermediary properties. In this work, films were grown on M2 steel using a modified plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition PECVD pulsed-DC discharge. In order to improve the coating adherence on the substrate, a silicon interlayer was deposited varying the growth time, which generated different interlayer thickness. Tribological tests were performed to study adhesion and friction gradient. Raman spectroscopy was used to verify the structural arrangement of carbon atoms. The results showed that thickness variation in silicon interlayer leads to significative changes in adhesion between coating and substrate.
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