Low-friction coating production method and sliding method

According to the present invention, a sliding surface 6, which is formed using a metal (SUJ2, palladium etc.) or an oxide ceramic (ZrO 2 ), is made to slide, at a Hertz contact stress of 1.0 GPa or more in an atmospheric environment containing a hydrogen gas that includes a minute amount of an alcohol and water, against a surface 7 for sliding, said surface including a PLC film 9 which is a coating formed by means of an ionization deposition method while applying a low bias voltage. This makes it possible to form, on the sliding surface 6, a low-friction coating 5 that stably exhibits a significantly low friction coefficient in the order of 10 -4 (less than 0.001).