Enhancing interfacial strength of DLC films on plasma-nitrided stainless steel

Abstract

An interfacial toughness of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films onto the stainless steel substrates is of progressive importance due to the countless tribological advantages of DLC in recent industries. The purpose of this article is to enhance the adhesion strength of DLC amorphous film on martensite stainless steel by introducing two different layers. A combination of nitrogen supersaturation layer and SiC_x:H interlayer film were utilized to achieve this purpose. The nanograined, hard nitrogen-supersaturated layer, acted as a transition zone, having more homogenous load-bearing capacity than all coatings onto the non-nitrided substrate. Moreover, SiC_x:H interlayer attains SiN and CN bonds between the nitrogen-supersaturated layer and SiC_x:H interlayer. These bonds have a direct influence in increasing the number of stable sp³ hybridization bonds between these two layers which ultimately further improve the interfacial strength.