Relationship of Endurance to Microstructure of IBAD MoS₂Coatings

Low-friction, high-endurance, ion-beam-deposited PbMoS coatings

“…The minimum friction measured for IBD PbMo-S coatings containing from 4 to 26 at.% Pb ranged between 0.005 and 0.021. These values are similar to the minimum friction coefficients measured for IBAD MoS 2 coatings, as shown in Table 2 [12,13]. The 50 at.% Pb coating and the 100% Pb coating had much higher friction coefficients, 0.13 and 0.4 respectively.…”

“…It was once believed that amorphization destroyed the lubricity of MoS 2 [5]. However, more recent evidence from studies of ion-beam modified MoS 2 contradicts this hypothesis [13,30]. In the present experiment, MoS 2 is observed via micro-Raman spectroscopy in ball transfer material and on the wear tracks of IBD Pb-Mo-S coatings.…”

“…The IBD Pb-Mo-S coatings had endurances much better than the average IBAD MoS 2 coatings. Moreover, the IBD Pb-Mo-S coatings had better average performances than the IBAD MoS 2 coatings developed by optimizing processing parameters [13].…”

“…Previous investigations [12,13] have shown that IBAD MoS 2 coatings provide both low friction and superior endurance for tribological applications. The present study demonstrates the potential to improve IBAD MoS 2 coatings by alloying with Pb.…”

Role of the Third Body in Life Enhancement of MoS2

“…Thin, dense MoS 2 coatings were deposited by the IBAD technique [6,7] to thicknesses from 285 to 1020 nm on hardened steel substrates. A thin (30-40 nm) TiN interlayer was present to act as a diffusion barrier during deposition [8].…”