A study of the structural and mechanical properties of Ti=MoS2 coatings deposited by closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating

Abstract The closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating system has been used to produce MoS 2 coatings by co-deposition of Ti and MoS 2 . Previous results have shown that the coatings are harder than pure MoS 2 coatings and that they show very low coefficient of friction and longer lifetimes. These Ti=MoS 2 coatings show excellent wear resistance at high loads. The coefficient of friction is as low as 0.02 at a relative humidity of 40%, and conventional adhesion scratch tests indicate critical loads in excess of 120 N. This paper presents a study of the composition, structure and mechanical properties of these metal=MoS 2 composite coatings using several analytical techniques (RBS, ERDA, XRD, scratch test, SEM and EDS). The analytical results are discussed and related to the mechanical properties of the coatings.