In situ growth and characterization of lubricious carbon-based films using colloidal probe microscopy

Abstract

Abstract Silicon oxide-doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H:Si:O) is an important form of diamond like carbon (DLC) for tribological applications, primarily because of its enhanced thermal stability and reduced dependence of friction on environmental humidity. As with other DLCs, its mechanisms of lubrication are still an active area of research, though it is now known that surface passivation and tribofilm growth are important factors. In this study, tribofilm formation for a-C:H:Si:O is examined at the microscale by using steel colloid atomic force microscopy probes as the sliding counterface. This approach provides some inherent advantages over macroscale tribology experiments, namely that the tribofilm thickness and stiffness can be tracked in situ and correlated directly with the friction response. The results of these experiments show that the tribofilm grows rapidly on the steel colloid following a period of counterface wear and high friction. The friction drops more than 80% upon nucleation of the tribofilm, which is attributed to a decrease of more than 80% in adhesion combined with a decrease in the estimated interfacial shear strength of at least 65%. Approximately 80% of the friction decrease occurs before the tribofilm reaches a thickness of 2 nm, suggesting that only the near-surface properties of the tribofilm provide the needed functionality for its effective lubrication mechanisms.