Alleviating internal stress in diamond-like carbon films for enhanced tribological performance under high contact pressure via interface texturing

Abstract

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have found widespread applications across numerous fields due to their exceptional properties. Nevertheless, their significant internal stress has restricted their further utility, particularly in scenarios involving high-contact pressure conditions. In response to this challenge, we fabricated diamond-like carbon films with nano-depth interface texture. This nano-depth interface texturing technique helps alleviate the internal stress within the carbon film, thereby enhancing the tribological performance of diamond-like carbon films with textured interfaces, especially under high contact pressure. We successfully fabricated textured carbon films with a thickness of 1 μm, which exhibited excellent tribological performance even under pressures exceeding 1 GPa. Through atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, internal stress testing, and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy imaging, we observed that the incorporation of nano-depth interface texturing resulted in an approximate 47.62 % increase in the thickness of the transition layer between the silicon substrate and the carbon film. Furthermore, there was a notable reduction of about 30 % in the internal stress exhibited by the carbon films. These findings are expected to expand the application of carbon films under higher contact pressure and facilitate the production of thicker films.