Tribological properties of cubic, amorphous and hexagonal boron nitride films

Abstract

Abstract Cubic boron nitride (c-BN), amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films were deposited onto a silicon substrate using a magnetically enhanced plasma ion plating method which has a hot cathode plasma discharge in a parallel magnetic field. A reciprocating tribometer was used to examine friction and wear properties for these three BN films, whose crystal structures were identified by IR spectroscopy. The tribological properties were revealed to be highly dependent on the films' crystal structures. The c-BN film showed the highest wear and peeling resistance of the tested films. The lubricating performance of the c-BN film proved significant with a long lubricating life and low friction. In contrast, the a-BN and h-BN films showed short lubricating endurance lives and large friction changes in spite of the fact that they are good in general as solid lubricants. These unexpected results are speculated to reflect the premature debonding of the h-BN and a-BN films during sliding and the subsequent discharge of their flakes out of the nip between the substrate and the ball indenter, owing to their lower adhesion to the substrate.