Tribological and electrical properties of metal-containing hydrogenated carbon films

The formation of metal-containing amorphous hydrogenated carbon films (a-C:H) in a reactive sputtering process is reported. The layers were prepared at room temperature using various metals of different concentrations. According to tribological measurements the layers exhibit small friction values and an extremely low abrasive wear rate. The electrical conductivity depends on the metal concentration and could be varied over many orders of magnitude.