Adhesion studies of crc/a-c:H coatings deposited with anode assisted reactive magnetron sputtering combined with dc-pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

We studied the effect of CrC interlayers with different carbon contents on the adhesion of CrC/a-C:H coatings prepared by anode assisted reactive magnetron sputtering combined with DC-pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The adhesion of the coating was measured by indentation and scratching. The coatings were characterized by Raman, XPS, SEM and Nanoin-dentation. The adhesion of the CrC/a-C:H coating is best when the carbon content in the interlayer of CrC is 44.5%, the scratch adhesion is 74 N, and the indentation adhesion is HF1. In this case, the elastic modulus of the interlayer CrC (284 GPa) is closest to that of the a-C:H layer (274 GPa). In conclusion, when there is no graphitization in the CrC interlayer, and the elastic modulus of the CrC interlayer is close to that of the a-C:H layer, the CrC/a-C:H coatings show the best adhesion.