Hirata Yuki, Takeuchi Ryotaro, Taniguchi Hiroyuki, Kawagoe Masao, Iwamoto Yoshinao, Yoshizato Mikito, Akasaka Hiroki, Ohtake Naoto
Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8503, Japan.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
Materials (Basel). 2021 Feb 3;14(4):719. doi: 10.3390/ma14040719.
Amorphous boron carbon nitride (a-BCN) films exhibit excellent properties such as high hardness and high wear resistance. However, the correlation between the film structure and its mechanical properties is not fully understood. In this study, a-BCN films were prepared by an arc-sputtering hybrid process under various coating conditions, and the correlations between the film's structure and mechanical properties were clarified. Glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were used to analyze the structural properties and chemical composition. Nanoindentation and ball-on-disc tests were performed to evaluate the hardness and to estimate the friction coefficient and wear volume, respectively. The results indicated that the mechanical properties strongly depend on the carbon content in the film; it decreases significantly when the carbon content is <90%. On the other hand, by controlling the contents of boron and nitrogen to a very small amount (up to 2.5 at.%), it is possible to synthesize a film that has nearly the same hardness and friction coefficient as those of an amorphous carbon (a-C) film and better wear resistance than the a-C film.
非晶态硼碳氮化物（a-BCN）薄膜具有诸如高硬度和高耐磨性等优异性能。然而，薄膜结构与其机械性能之间的关联尚未完全明晰。在本研究中，通过电弧溅射混合工艺在各种镀膜条件下制备了a-BCN薄膜，并阐明了薄膜结构与机械性能之间的关联。采用辉光放电光发射光谱、X射线光电子能谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱和拉曼光谱来分析结构性能和化学成分。分别进行纳米压痕测试和球盘试验以评估硬度并估算摩擦系数和磨损体积。结果表明，机械性能强烈依赖于薄膜中的碳含量；当碳含量<90%时，其显著降低。另一方面，通过将硼和氮的含量控制在非常少量（高达2.5原子%），有可能合成出一种硬度和摩擦系数与非晶碳（a-C）薄膜几乎相同且耐磨性优于a-C薄膜的薄膜。
