Influence of annealing temperature on thermal stabilities of hydrogenated amorphous carbon on silicon nitride balls

Abstract Hydrogenated amorphous carbon films were synthesized on silicon, silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) ceramic balls and SUS304 by using linear ion beam deposition technology. To investigate the annealing effect on the thermal stabilities of the films on Si 3 N 4 balls, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), nanoindentation, stylus profiler and ball-on-disk friction test were adopted. The results showed that the annealing temperatures had no significant influence on the structure, mechanical and tribological properties of the films until 200 °C. When the temperature was above 200 °C, the film structure changes as effusion of hydrogen and graphitization leading to poor mechanical and tribological properties. Roles of the tribochemical reactions occurred on Si 3 N 4 ball surface during the friction in the tribological properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films were discussed.