Study on the diamond-like carbon multilayer films for tribological application

We have investigated the electronic structures of intermetallic multilayer (ML) films of [Co(2A)/Pd(xA)] (x: the thickness of the Pd sublayer; x = 1 A, 3 A, 5 A, 7 A, 9 A) by employing soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Both Co 2p XAS and XMCD spectra are found to be similar to one another, as well as to those of Co metal, providing evidence for the metallic bonding of Co ions in [Co/Pd] ML films. By analyzing the measured Co 2p XMCD spectra, we have determined the orbital magnetic moments and the spin magnetic moments of Co ions in [Co(2A)/Pd(xA)] ML films. Based on this analysis, we have found that the orbital magnetic moments are enhanced greatly when x increases from 1 A to 3 A, and then do not change much for x ≥ 3 A. This finding suggests that the interface spin-orbit coupling plays an important role in determining the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in [Co/Pd] ML films.

Fretting wear characteristics of Ni/Cu multilayers electrodeposited on beryllium bronze substrate

Optical and magneto-optical properties of Co/Pt multilayered films

To develop new solid lubricant films based on low friction multilayer model, nanoperiod Au and Ag multilayer films are deposited. The results of nanoindentation tests reveal that multilayer films exhibit a higher elastic modulus, a higher hardness and a lower modulus of dissipation energy than single layer films. From the ball on disc tribological test, the friction coefficient of multilayer film μ is as low as ∼0·05. The friction life cycle of the nanoperiod multilayer films is longer than those of single layer films. The electrical resistivity of nanoperiod multilayer films induced by sliding is a little higher, and the change in that is less than that of single layer films.

Ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) was investigated as a potential way to increase the fretting fatigue resistance of Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy at elevated temperature. Three coating systems, hard TiN film with good toughness and soft Al film of low friction and Cu/Ni multilayer films with modulation period thickness of 20~600nm have been applied on the base material. Coefficients of friction and fretting fatigue lives of the specimens with and without film were compared. The film damage was characterized through scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the IBAD technique can prepare all films with high bonding strength and excellent lubricating properties. The fretting fatigue life of the Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy with the TiN film was improved by a factor of 2.4 as compared to the uncoated substrate at elevated temperature because of the excellent wear and fatigue resistance and good toughness of the film. Excellent wear resistance and good anti-fatigue properties could be simultaneously obtained by a single hard film to control the fretting fatigue damage. The IBAD Al film significantly improved the fretting fatigue resistance of the Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy at elevated temperature for good lubricating property. The fretting fatigue resistance of the Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V alloy was improved by all the Cu/Ni multilayer films. However, the fretting fatigue resistance did not increase monotonically with the modulation period of the films. Films with a modulation period of 200 nm had the highest fretting fatigue resistance among the multilayer films prepared owing to their high toughness and strength and good lubricating and anti-fatigue action. The fretting fatigue resistance of films with a modulation period of 20 nm was low because of the poor fracture toughness and crack propagation resistance, even though these films had the highest hardness and good fretting wear resistance. Thus, comprehensive properties, including high toughness and strength, must be considered for multilayer films used to improve the fretting fatigue resistance of titanium alloys.

Tribological performance enhancement of amorphous hard carbon films on AISI 52100 bearing steel

Energy storage properties of multilayer thin films based on relaxor-ferroelectric (Ba0.9Sr0.1)(Zr0.4Ti0.6)O3 and paraelectric Sr(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 layers

High dielectric constant ceramics fillers are widely used as fillers in polymer matrix to prepare high performance dielectric composites. Homogeneous filler distribution in these composites films is found to be quite difficult to achieve balance between high dielectric constant and high breakdown strength. Herein, multilayer structured composites films containing nickelous hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) as fillers, with different multilayered structures were designed and prepared, including 2–5 layers structure with various filler distribution. The effects of multilayer structure on the dielectric performance are explored by keeping the overall filler content constant. Combined with computer simulation, it is suggested that the variation in filler distribution in these films can effectively redistribute electric field intensity. Meanwhile, the dielectric constant and breakdown strength of the overall composites can be adjusted by changing the volume ratio between high filler content layer and low filler content layer. It is noted that at least 1/3 of the overall film volume should be occupied by a high breakdown strength layer to keep rather high overall breakdown strength. Moreover, high dielectric constant layer should be the outer layers to achieve overall high dielectric constant. Among all the layered structures investigated, the maximum energy density of 6.03 J/cm3 is obtained for film with a 3-layer nonsequential arrangement structure, which is 68% higher than single layer film with identical composition. This study provides some reference value for the preparation of multilayered dielectric polymer composites films for energy storage applications.

This article describes the results of a study of Cu/Ni multilayer coatings applied on a monocrystalline Si(100) silicon substrate by the deposition magnetron sputtering technique. Composed of 100 bilayers each, the multilayers were differentiated by the Ni sublayer thickness (1.2 to 3 nm), while maintaining the constant Cu sublayer thickness (2 nm). The multilayer coatings were characterized by assessing their surface topography using atomic force microscopy and their mechanical properties with nano-hardness measurements by the Berkovich method. The tests showed that the hardness of multilayers was substantially influenced by the thickness ratio of Cu and Ni sublayers and by surface roughness. The highest hardness and, at the same time, the lowest roughness was exhibited by a multilayer structure with a Cu-to-Ni sublayer thickness ratio of 2:1.5.

Effect of modulation periods on the microstructure and mechanical properties of DLC/TiC multilayer films deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc method

A polynomial approach is adopted to simulate the optical-electrical response of a multilayer thin film subjected to an applied transverse voltage. Each layer in the thin film is modelled by a propagation matrix, while the coupling between any two adjacent layers at an interface is modelled by an interface matrix. Each layer in the multilayer thin film in the present approach is treated as a capacitor coupled to the next so that the multilayer film is modelled as an effective capacitor which is constructed by a series of coupled capacitors. The electric charges accumulated at the interface between adjacent ‘capacitors’ can be modulated by the transverse voltage. The model is constructed to describe only lossless and nonmagnetic materials. The reflection and transmission of multilayer MgO/CaF2 thin films with a selected number of layers and structure, subjected to a tunable transverse potential, are simulated with a home-grown code implementing the model. The numerical results indicate that non-trivial optical responses can be conveniently predicted with the code, providing a handy simulator for designing and optimizing desired optical functionality of an arbitrary lossless multilayer thin film by tuning the transverse potential and the geometrical and electrical parameter of the structure.

We have discovered that there exist dynamic scaling behaviors for the nucleation and the saturation field in hysteresis loop of Co/Pt multilayer thin films. The dynamic hysteresis measurement was carried out with variation of sweeping rate of cycling fields, which reveals that not only the coercivity and the loop area, well known as the Steinmetz law, but also the nucleation and the saturation field exhibit similar scaling behaviors. We have systematically analyzed the scaling factor of nucleation, coercivity, and saturation phase with respect to the Co sublayer thickness. Local structural configuration depending on the Co sublayer thickness were examined by extended X-ray absorption fine structure, implying that damping parameter and interface effect modifies the coercivity and nucleation scaling factor but does not significantly induce the change in saturation scaling factors.

Materials by design—exploiting the unique properties of pulsed laser deposition for the synthesis of novel hard materials and structures

A previously developed micromagnetic model for single-layer thin-film recording media is extended to model multilayer thin-film media. Effects of the magnetostatic interactions between the adjacent magnetic layers in the film are studied for a film with two magnetic layers separated by an ideal nonmagnetic layer. Magnetization reversal processes and hysteresis properties are studied for films with different separation layer thicknesses. It is found that the magnetostatic interaction between the two adjacent magnetic layers in the multilayer films with an ideal thin nonmagnetic interlayer can result in significant changes of micromagnetic behavior within each magnetic layer. This micromagnetic modeling study explains why reducing the separation thickness can yield further reduction of the medium noise.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Characterization of a polyethylene–polyamide multilayer film using nanoscale infrared spectroscopy and imaging