Lower friction and higher wear resistance of fluorine‐incorporated amorphous carbon films

Plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition was employed to fabricate hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a‐C:H) films and fluorine‐doped hydrogenated amorphous (a‐C:H:F) carbon films. For comparison purpose, the a‐C:H films were treated with CF 4 plasma. The bonding structure and tribological behavior of the films were investigated. The results indicate that the F presented mainly in the forms of C–F 3 , C–F and C–F 2 groups in both the a‐C:H:F film and the surface CF 4 plasma processed hydrogenated amorphous carbon (F‐P‐a‐C:H) films. Moreover, the a‐C:H:F films, because of the transformation of sp 3 to sp 2 , possess a lower friction coefficient than that of the F‐P‐a‐C:H films. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.