Carbon and nitrogen co-doping self-assembled MoS2 multilayer films

Abstract

Mo–S–C–N composite films were prepared using reactive magnetron sputtering of graphite and MoS2 targets in argon and nitrogen atmospheres. The effects of carbon/nitrogen co-doping and carbon concentration on the composition, microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of deposited films have been investigated by various characterization techniques. The results show that the deposited films comprise MoS2 nanocrystalline and amorphous carbon, and the incorporating nitrogen forms Mo-N and C–N chemical bonds. Increasing carbon concentration leads to the increase of sp2 carbon fraction in the films. Furthermore, the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that a self-assembled multilayer structure with periodicity in the nanometer scale is formed in the Mo–S–C–N film. Benefiting from the composite and self-assembled multilayer structures, the hardness of Mo–S–C–N film deposited at optimized parameter reaches up to 9.76GPa, and corresponding friction experiment indicates that this composite films display low friction coefficient and high wear resistance both in vacuum and ambient air conditions.