Kunze, T.T.KunzePosselt, M.M.PosseltGemming, S.S.GemmingSeifert, G.G.SeifertKonicek, A.A.KonicekCarpick, R.R.CarpickPastewka, L.L.PastewkaMoseler, M.M.Moseler2022-03-0413.5.20162014https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/23593010.1007/s11249-013-0250-7Wear in self-mated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films is studied by molecular dynamics and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Both theory and experiment demonstrate the formation of a soft amorphous carbon (a-C) layer with increased sp2 content, which grows faster than an a-C tribolayer found on self-mated diamond sliding under similar conditions. The faster sp3RT sp2 transition in ta-C is explained by easy breaking of prestressed bonds in a finite, nanoscale ta-C region, whereas diamond amorphization occurs at an atomically sharp interface. A detailed analysis of the underlying rehybridization mechanism reveals that the sp3RT sp2 transition is triggered by plasticity in the adjacent a-C. Rehybridization therefore occurs in a region that has not yet experienced plastic yield. The resulting soft a-C tribolayer is interpreted as a precursor to the experimentally observed wear.enwearplasticityrehybridizationta-Ctribologydiamond-like carbonmolecular-dynamics simulationsthin-filmsdeformationtribochemistrytribologymechanismbehaviorfailuregrowth621journal article