Wear reduction and sliding behaviour of various substrates obtained by ion implantation of nitrogen and carbon ions

Abstract

In this paper, first results of the wear and friction behaviour of ion implanted coated and uncoated steel are presented. The implantations were performed in a newly developed, linear high-current ion implanter (F. J. Körber et al., Conf. on Surface Modification of Metals by Ion Beams, Riva del Garda, Italy, 1988). The coatings were carried out by sputtering (titanium, TiN) and electroplating (chromium). The nitrogen and carbon ions were implanted using energy up to 110 keV. Titanium nitride coatings were achieved by ion beam mixing of thin titanium layers with nitrogen ions, in comparison with reactively sputtered TiN films. The wear and friction behaviour of the modified surfaces were examined by a pin-on-disc tester and optical micrographs of the wear tracks. The depth distribution of the implanted ions was measured by secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SMMS) profiling.