On the understanding of the silicon-containing adhesion interlayer in DLC deposited on steel

Deposition of DLC Films onto Oxynitriding-Treated V4E High Vanadium Tool Steel through DC-Pulsed PECVD Process

“…The adhesion layer between the steel substrate and the DLC thin lms is usually referred to as the interlayer or intermediate layer. Previous literature 11) showing the cross-section images of DLC/interlayer/substrate systems give no evidence as to the existence and/or function of the two interfaces that constitute the interlayer. In this work, the intermediate layer of the V4E steel and the DLC lms was the oxynitride layer.…”

“…The poor adhesion of DLC lms on ferrous alloys limits the range of industrial applications. 11) Interlayers are commonly employed in an attempt to improve DLC adhesion on metallic alloys. In these experiments, with the oxynitride layer as an interlayer between the DLC lms and V4E tool steel, the adhesion strength of DLC lms was effectively improved.…”

“…Secondly, the thermal expansion coef cients of the coatings and the steels are not compatible, causing poor adhesion and high residual stresses. 9,11) Therefore, many studies of the intermediate layers of DLC coatings have been frequently reported. 12,13) On the other hand, a number of different techniques have been used for depositing DLC lms such as PVD, RF magnetron sputtering, PECVD, ion beam deposition and cathodic micro-arc discharge.…”

DLC Layers Created Using CVD Techniques and Their Application

“…Similarly, beneficial results of the transfer of stresses between the substrate and the coating after using the surface modification process with nitrogen or silicon ions were obtained in the work on the modification of aluminum alloys [43,67,68]. For example, Lifang et al [69] clearly indicate that obtaining an intermediate layer, at the Al-Cu-Mg-DLC alloy boundary, decisively influences, inter alia, the hardness of the surface exposed to working conditions.…”

“…In "Introduction," I already mentioned pioneer studies concerning these layers. Up to now, however, carbon nitride has not been obtained in a crystalline form with stoichiometric or a very similar atomic ratio, and a series of works carried out in this area led to obtaining carbon layers subsidized with nitrogen atoms (N-DLC) [38][39][40], silicon (Si-DLC) [25,30,[41][42][43], or more complex, in terms of chemical composition, SiCN:H structures [44,45].…”