Evolution of the Microstructure, Hybridization, and Internal Stress of Al-Doped Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Abstract

This work modified some parameters related to the bond order in REBO-II of the C−C interaction and simulated the ta-C:Al film deposition using the large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator especially focused on the effect of the Al-doping content on the microstructural and mechanical properties of tetrahedral amorphous carbon films.

A temperature-based synthesis and characterization study of aluminum-incorporated diamond-like carbon thin films

“…Guo et al (2017) synthesized Al/Ti-doped DLC coatings using a unique hybrid ion-beam system and observed a minimum σ of 1.28 ± 0.1 GPa and maximum H of 20 GPa. Huang et al (2023a) analyzed the tetrahedral carbon aluminum film using a large-scale atomic parallel simulator and observed that Al plays a significant role in the properties of the developed coating. Wongpanya et al (2022) synthesized a DLC coating with Al and N doping over AISI 4140 steel using the filtered cathodic vacuum-arc technique and observed that the corrosion resistance and adhesion performance of the developed coating significantly enhanced compared to those of DLC coating.…”

“…Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is a popular CVD technique used for depositing Al-DLC films since it produces high-quality films at relatively low temperatures (Huang et al, 2023b). In PECVD, a gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon and aluminum precursors in a reaction chamber is subjected to electrical discharges.…”

“…This generates plasma, which causes film deposition onto the substrate. The deposition in PECVD can be controlled by adjusting the power input, precursor flow rates, and substrate heating (Huang et al, 2023b). Similarly, hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) is another CVD method used for the synthesis of Al-DLC films.…”

“…However, PVD techniques may suffer from issues related to film uniformity and stoichiometry control. On the other hand, CVD methods like PECVD and HFCVD can produce high-quality films at lower temperatures, making them more preferable for temperaturesensitive substrates (Huang et al, 2023b). CVD techniques also offer better control over film composition and uniformity but generally require longer deposition times (Pang et al, 2010).…”