| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Tribology | Friday Sessions |
| Session TR4+SE-FrM |
| Session: | Friction and Wear of Engineered Surfaces Macro- to Nanoscale Approaches |
| Presenter: | O.L. Eryilmaz, Argonne National Laboratory |
| Authors: | O.L. Eryilmaz, Argonne National Laboratory A. Erdemir, Argonne National Laboratory |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
In this study, we investigated the critical role of hydrogen in friction and wear mechanisms of hydrogen-free and -poor films in dry nitrogen and high-vacuum environments. Using TOF-SIMS and XPS, we found a very important relationship between friction coefficient and the degree of hydrogenation in these films. Specifically, friction and wear test results showed that the films grown in hydrogen-free or -poor plasmas, the friction coefficients were very high (more than 0.5)and un-steady; and these films wore of very quickly during the sliding tests. However, when these films were subjected to very short-duration (a few minutes) post-hydrogen plasma treatment, their friction coefficients became very low (i.e., less than 0.1) and they were able to last very long during sliding tests. Surface analytical characterizations of the films and sliding contact surfaces were done using XPS and TOF-SIMS as well as Raman Spectroscopy and the chemical and structural findings were correlated with the tribological performance of the films. In particular, TOF-SIMS results revealed very close relationship between surface chemistry and tribological performance of DLC films.