Thin film magnetic disks and head-slideers require protective overcoats, usually some form of carbon, to guard the magnetic elements against corrosion and wear and to provide long interface durability. The mechanical properties of these coatings are important for assessing their tribological performance. In this paper we present the results of nanomechanical properties of amorphous carbon (a-C) and nitrogenated carbon (a-C) and nitrogenated carbon (CN) films deposited on Si(100). a-C and CN films were deposited on silicon by Facing Target Sputtering (FTS) technique. The elemental composition and bond characterization of a-C and CN films have been determined by X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Nanoindentation experiments were performed using Hysitron Triboscope~(circle R) in the load range of 10-200 mu n, using a sharp 90 deg 3-sided pyramidal diamond tip (50+-10 nm radius). Hardness and Young's modulus of elasticity were determined from the load-displacement data. Nanowear studies were performed on the 10 and 20 nm a-C and CN films to determine the critical load. Below the critical load no significant wear is observed. Above the critical load however, the wear increases sharply. Abrasive wear seems to be the cause of the sharp increase in wear depth in case of a-C film. From the above observation, CN films exhibit excellent mechanical properties owing to its superior hardness property.
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