Plasma Variables and Tribological Properties of Coatings in Low Pressure (0.1 - 10.0 Torr) Plasma Systems

摘要

A detailed treatment is presented of the dialog known as plasma surface interactions (PSI) with respect to the coating process and its tribological behavior. Adsorption, morphological changes, defect formation, sputtering, chemical etching, and secondary electron emission are all discussed as promoting and enhancing the surface chemistry, thus influencing the tribological properties of the deposited flux. Phenomenological correlations of rate of deposition, flux composition, microhardness, and wear with the plasma layer variables give an insight to the formation of chemical bonding between the deposited flux and the substrate surface.