DLC Films Grown On Steel Using An Innovator Active Screen System For PECVD Technique

In this work, an active screen plasma discharge system based technology was incorporated in a PECVD reactor for DLC films growth, making it a new development in DLC films deposition. In this case, the active screen system is used to seek better electrons confinement, which might result in high ions density due to the collisions number increase, leading to a possible increase in ionization. DLC films were grown on steel substrates, using two variations of this system. In order to enhance adhesion between coating and substrate, a silicon interlayer was deposited, using different bias voltages. Morphological and structural characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy, optical profilometry and Raman scattering spectroscopy. Tribological tests were performed by nanohardness, scratch and wear tests. Results showed that the plasma confinement promoted good films adhesion, which may be related to a high sub-implantation. This might be a consequence of the pressure decrease, as well as, to the ions energy distribution narrowing.本研究将基于有源屏蔽等离子体放电系统的技术集成至等离子体增强化学气相沉积（PECVD）反应器中，用于类金刚石碳（DLC）薄膜的制备，为DLC薄膜沉积领域带来了全新的技术进展。在此方案中，有源屏蔽系统用于实现更优异的电子约束效果，由于碰撞次数增多，可获得更高的离子密度，进而提升电离程度。本研究采用该系统的两种变体方案，在钢基体上制备了DLC薄膜；为提升涂层与基体间的结合强度，通过调节不同偏置电压沉积了硅过渡层。采用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、光学轮廓仪及拉曼散射光谱对样品进行了形貌与结构表征，并通过纳米硬度测试、划痕试验及磨损试验完成了摩擦学性能测试。结果表明，等离子体约束效果提升了薄膜的结合强度，这可能与较高的基体亚表层离子注入程度相关，该现象或源于工艺气压的降低，以及离子能量分布的收窄。