{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T18:09:49Z","timestamp":1772129389134,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,3]],"date-time":"2020-02-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1580688000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Commission","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["721642"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["721642"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Coatings"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Low stoichiometry, low crystallinity, low hardness and incongruencies involving the reported microstructure have limited the applicability of TMD-C (Transition metal dichalcogenides with carbon) solid-lubricant coatings. In this work, optimized Mo\u2013Se\u2013C coatings were deposited using confocal plasma magnetron sputtering to overcome the above-mentioned issues. Two different approaches were used; MoSe2 target powered by DC (direct current) or RF (radio frequency) magnetron sputtering. Carbon was always added by DC magnetron sputtering. Wavelength dispersive spectroscopy displayed Se\/Mo stoichiometry of ~2, values higher than the literature. The Se\/Mo ratio for RF-deposited coatings was lower than for their DC counterparts. Scanning electron microscopy showed that irrespective of the low carbon additions, the Mo\u2013Se\u2013C coatings were highly compact with no vestiges of columnar growth due to optimal bombardment of sputtered species. Application of substrate bias further improved compactness at the expense of lower Se\/Mo ratio. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of MoSe2 crystals, and (002) basal planes. Even very low carbon additions led to an improvement of the hardness of the coatings. The work reports a comparison between RF and DC sputtering of MoSe2 coatings with carbon and provides a guideline to optimize the composition, morphology, structure, and mechanical properties.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/coatings10020133","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,3]],"date-time":"2020-02-03T11:28:31Z","timestamp":1580729311000},"page":"133","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Comparative Study of DC and RF Sputtered MoSe2 Coatings Containing Carbon\u2014An Approach to Optimize Stoichiometry, Microstructure, Crystallinity and Hardness"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Talha Bin","family":"Yaqub","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"IPN\u2014LED &amp; MAT\u2014Instituto Pedro Nunes, Laboratory of Tests, Wear and Materials, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"SEG-CEMMPRE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Lu\u00eds Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3610-5862","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Todor","family":"Vuchkov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPN\u2014LED &amp; MAT\u2014Instituto Pedro Nunes, Laboratory of Tests, Wear and Materials, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"SEG-CEMMPRE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Lu\u00eds Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Sanguino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SEG-CEMMPRE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Lu\u00eds Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Tomas","family":"Polcar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Control Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technick\u00e1 2, 6 Prague, Czech Republic"},{"name":"nCATS, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8251-5099","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Albano","family":"Cavaleiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPN\u2014LED &amp; MAT\u2014Instituto Pedro Nunes, Laboratory of Tests, Wear and Materials, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"SEG-CEMMPRE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Lu\u00eds Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Stachowiak, G., and Batchelor, A.W. (2013). Engineering Tribology, Butterworth-Heinemann."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"962","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2009.04.010","article-title":"Progress in the development of adaptive nitride-based coatings for high temperature tribological applications","volume":"204","author":"Aouadi","year":"2009","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bhushan, B. (2001). Modern Tribology Handbook, CRC Press.","DOI":"10.1201\/9780849377877"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(00)00783-0","article-title":"Multicomponent and multiphase hard coatings for tribological applications","volume":"131","author":"Jehn","year":"2000","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2401","DOI":"10.1116\/1.581977","article-title":"The search for novel, superhard materials","volume":"17","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Vac. Sci. Technol. Vac. Surf. Film"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1019163707747","article-title":"WC\/DLC\/WS2 nanocomposite coatings for aerospace tribology","volume":"6","author":"Voevodin","year":"1999","journal-title":"Tribol. Lett."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2018.02.025","article-title":"A Cavaleiro, Influence of Ag additions on the structure, mechanical properties and oxidation behaviour of Cr-O coatings deposited by HiPIMS","volume":"339","author":"Fernandes","year":"2018","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(01)01108-2","article-title":"Advantages of using self-lubricating, hard, wear-resistant MoS2 -based coatings","volume":"142","author":"Renevier","year":"2001","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2005.04.078","article-title":"Effects of temperature on the chemistry and tribology of co-sputtered MoSx-Ti composite thin films","volume":"489","author":"Savan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5666","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2009.02.103","article-title":"Growth, structure and friction behavior of titanium doped tungsten disulphide (Ti-WS2) nanocomposite thin films","volume":"517","author":"Scharf","year":"2009","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7532","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2010.05.040","article-title":"Tribological behaviour of MoS 2\/Au coatings","volume":"518","author":"Chien","year":"2010","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1023\/B:TRIL.0000044490.03462.6e","article-title":"Tribology of co-sputtered nanocomposite Au\/MoS 2 solid lubricant films over a wide contact stress range","volume":"17","author":"Lince","year":"2004","journal-title":"Tribol. Lett."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/S0043-1648(99)00100-3","article-title":"Wear behavior of Pb\u2014Mo\u2014S solid lubricating coatings","volume":"230","author":"Wahl","year":"1999","journal-title":"Wear"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2016.01.163","article-title":"Microstructure and tribological properties of MoS 2 + Zr composite coatings in high humidity environment","volume":"367","author":"Ye","year":"2016","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2010.07.050","article-title":"Structure, morphology and chemical composition of sputter deposited nanostructured Cr-WS2 solid lubricant coatings","volume":"205","author":"Deepthi","year":"2010","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(99)00312-6","article-title":"A study of the structural and mechanical properties of Ti-MoS2coatings deposited by closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating","volume":"116","author":"Rigato","year":"1999","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"572","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(97)00498-2","article-title":"The tribological properties of MoS2\/metal composite coatings deposited by closed field magnetron sputtering","volume":"94","author":"Teer","year":"1997","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(99)00228-5","article-title":"Nanocomposite tribological coatings for aerospace applications","volume":"116","author":"Voevodin","year":"1999","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4037","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2011.01.180","article-title":"Self-adaptive low friction coatings based on transition metal dichalcogenides","volume":"519","author":"Polcar","year":"2011","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"686","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2011.03.004","article-title":"Review on self-lubricant transition metal dichalcogenide nanocomposite coatings alloyed with carbon","volume":"206","author":"Polcar","year":"2011","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2019.03.294","article-title":"Structure, mechanical and tribological properties of Mo-S-N solid lubricant coatings","volume":"486","author":"Hudec","year":"2019","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.1016\/S0043-1648(99)00329-4","article-title":"Tribology of tungsten disulfide-nanocrystalline zinc oxide adaptive lubricant films from ambient to 500 \u00b0C","volume":"237","author":"Prasad","year":"2000","journal-title":"Wear"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"(1997). Characterization of air-annealed, pulsed laser deposited ZnO-WS2 solid film lubricants bt transmission electron microscopy. Thin Solid Films, 305, 130\u2013143.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0040-6090(97)00129-6"},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"741","article-title":"Nanocomposite and nanostructured tribological materials for space applications","volume":"65","author":"Voevodin","year":"2005","journal-title":"Compos. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wear.2008.04.011","article-title":"Comparative study of the tribological behavior of self-lubricating W-S-C and Mo-Se-C sputtered coatings","volume":"266","author":"Polcar","year":"2009","journal-title":"Wear"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2014.04.046","article-title":"Hard coatings with high temperature adaptive lubrication and contact thermal management: Review","volume":"257","author":"Voevodin","year":"2014","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.1016\/0257-8972(94)90194-5","article-title":"Fracture in MoS2 solid lubricant films","volume":"68","author":"Hilton","year":"1994","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(98)00712-9","article-title":"Microstructure analysis of MoS2 deposited on diamond-like carbon films for wear improvement","volume":"111","author":"Wang","year":"1999","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2017.06.087","article-title":"Effect of carbon concentration and argon flow rate on the microstructure and triboperformance of magnetron sputtered WS2\/a-C coatings","volume":"332","author":"Cao","year":"2017","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2018.04.040","article-title":"On the S\/W stoichiometry and triboperformance of WSxC(H) coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering","volume":"365","author":"Cao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2015.01.057","article-title":"Amorphous self-lubricant MoS2-C sputtered coating with high hardness","volume":"331","author":"Gu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s11249-017-0862-4","article-title":"Friction and Wear Mechanism of MoS 2 \/ C Composite Coatings Under Atmospheric Environment","volume":"65","author":"Cai","year":"2017","journal-title":"Tribol. Lett."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2015.12.152","article-title":"Influence of C dopant on the structure, mechanical and tribological properties of rf-sputtered MoS2\/aC composite films","volume":"364","author":"Xu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2003.10.022","article-title":"Historical developments and new trends in tribological and solid lubricant coatings","volume":"181","author":"Donnet","year":"2004","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"340","DOI":"10.1016\/j.triboint.2016.04.029","article-title":"Diverse mechanisms of friction induced self-organisation into a low-friction material\u2014An overview of WS2tribofilm formation","volume":"101","author":"Gustavsson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Tribol. Int."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"383","DOI":"10.1039\/c2fd00003b","article-title":"Complex frictional analysis of self-lubricant W-S-C\/Cr coating","volume":"156","author":"Polcar","year":"2012","journal-title":"Faraday Discuss."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124992","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2019.124992","article-title":"Cavaleiro, DCMS Mo-Se-C solid lubricant coatings\u2014Synthesis, structural, mechanical and tribological property investigation","volume":"378","author":"Bin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2418","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2007.08.019","article-title":"Synthesis and structural properties of Mo-Se-C sputtered coatings","volume":"202","author":"Polcar","year":"2008","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1564","DOI":"10.1557\/JMR.1992.1564","article-title":"An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments","volume":"7","author":"Oliver","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Mater. Res."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Martin, P.M. (2009). Handbook of Deposition Technologies for Films and Coatings: Science, Applications and Technology, Elsevier Inc."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1449","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1330558","article-title":"Ion-assisted deposition of MoSx films from laser-generated plume under pulsed electric field","volume":"89","author":"Fominski","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1016\/S0040-6090(96)09165-1","article-title":"Preparation, structure and properties of MoSx films","volume":"298","author":"Weise","year":"1997","journal-title":"Thin Soli."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7000","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2012.03.153","article-title":"Experimental and numerical study of the chemical composition of WSex thin films obtained by pulsed laser deposition in vacuum and in a buffer gas atmosphere","volume":"258","author":"Grigoriev","year":"2012","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matchemphys.2013.07.004","article-title":"Synthesis and tribological properties of WSex films prepared by magnetron sputtering","volume":"142","author":"Justo","year":"2013","journal-title":"Mater. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Betz, G., and Wehner, G.K. (1983). Sputtering of Multicomponent Materials. Sputtering by Particle Bombardment II, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/3-540-12593-0_2"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1088\/0305-4624\/19\/2\/304","article-title":"Magnetron sputtering","volume":"19","author":"Swann","year":"1988","journal-title":"Phys. Technol."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2116","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2010.10.067","article-title":"Comparison of chromium nitride coatings deposited by DC and RF magnetron sputtering","volume":"519","author":"Tan","year":"2011","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1016\/S0042-207X(99)00189-X","article-title":"Magnetron sputtering: A review of recent developments and applications","volume":"56","author":"Kelly","year":"2000","journal-title":"Vacuum"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5605","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2009.01.190","article-title":"Control of molybdenum disulfide basal plane orientation during coating growth in pulsed magnetron sputtering discharges","volume":"517","author":"Muratore","year":"2009","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2014.11.074","article-title":"Structure, mechanical and tribological properties of self-lubricant W-S-N coatings","volume":"261","author":"Mutafov","year":"2015","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mattod.2016.10.004","article-title":"Interlayer-expanded MoS 2","volume":"20","author":"Rasamani","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mater. Today"},{"key":"ref_52","first-page":"1","article-title":"Aqueous Medium Synthesis Route for Randomly Stacked Molybdenum Disulfide","volume":"23","author":"Panigrahi","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Nanoparticles."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4908","DOI":"10.1364\/OE.21.004908","article-title":"Photoluminescence emission and Raman response of monolayer MoS2, MoSe2, and WSe2","volume":"21","author":"Tonndorf","year":"2017","journal-title":"Opt. Express"},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wear.2013.03.032","article-title":"Frictional behavior of self-adaptive nanostructural Mo-Se-C coatings in different sliding conditions","volume":"303","author":"Gustavsson","year":"2013","journal-title":"Wear."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1069","DOI":"10.1143\/JPSJ.49.1069","article-title":"Raman scattering and infrared reflectance in 2H-MoSe2","volume":"49","author":"Sekine","year":"1980","journal-title":"J. Phys. Soc. Jpn."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevB.61.14095","article-title":"Interpretation of Raman spectra of disordered and amorphous carbon","volume":"61","author":"Ferrari","year":"2000","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. B."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1439","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vacuum.2007.04.010","article-title":"The tribological behavior of W-S-C films in pin-on-disk testing at elevated temperature","volume":"81","author":"Polcar","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vacuum"},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S0043-1648(00)00488-9","article-title":"On the significance of the H\/E ratio in wear control: A nanocomposite coating approach to optimised tribological behaviour","volume":"246","author":"Leyland","year":"2000","journal-title":"Wear"},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(01)01714-5","article-title":"Relationships between hardness, Young\u2019s modulus and elastic recovery in hard nanocomposite coatings","volume":"154","author":"Musil","year":"2002","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diamond.2004.07.022","article-title":"Effects of normal load on nanotribological properties of sputtered carbon nitride films","volume":"14","author":"Charitidis","year":"2005","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."}],"container-title":["Coatings"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6412\/10\/2\/133\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T08:54:12Z","timestamp":1760172852000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6412\/10\/2\/133"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,3]]},"references-count":60,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2]]}},"alternative-id":["coatings10020133"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/coatings10020133","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-6412"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-6412","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,3]]}}}