{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T23:21:02Z","timestamp":1777504862440,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,29]],"date-time":"2018-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1540771200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["M-ERANET\/0003\/2015"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["M-ERANET\/0003\/2015"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001858","name":"VINNOVA","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2015-06501"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2015-06501"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Coatings"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hydrogen-free diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films are attractive for a wide range of industrial applications. One of the challenges related to the use of hard DLC lies in the high intrinsic compressive stresses that limit the film adhesion. Here, we report on the mechanical and tribological properties of DLC films deposited by High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) with Ne as the process gas. In contrast to standard magnetron sputtering as well as standard Ar-based HiPIMS process, the Ne-HiPIMS lead to dense DLC films with increased mass density (up to 2.65 g\/cm3) and a hardness of 23 GPa when deposited on steel with a Cr + CrN adhesion interlayer. Tribological testing by the pin-on-disk method revealed a friction coefficient of 0.22 against steel and a wear rate of 2 \u00d7 10\u221217 m3\/Nm. The wear rate is about an order of magnitude lower than that of the films deposited using Ar. The differences in the film properties are attributed to an enhanced C ionization in the Ne-HiPIMS discharge.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/coatings8110385","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,29]],"date-time":"2018-10-29T11:10:41Z","timestamp":1540811441000},"page":"385","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":38,"title":["Mechanical Properties of Hydrogen Free Diamond-Like Carbon Thin Films Deposited by High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering with Ne"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Asim","family":"Aijaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Solid State Electronics, The \u00c5ngstr\u00f6m Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75121 Uppsala, Sweden"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SEG-CEMMPRE-Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Luis Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6218-3098","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joao","family":"Oliveira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SEG-CEMMPRE-Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Luis Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2679-2387","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tomas","family":"Kubart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solid State Electronics, The \u00c5ngstr\u00f6m Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75121 Uppsala, Sweden"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"R311","DOI":"10.1088\/0022-3727\/39\/18\/R01","article-title":"Tribology of diamond-like carbon films: Recent progress and future prospects","volume":"39","author":"Erdemir","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Phys. D Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2017.12.266","article-title":"Microstructure, mechanical and tribological characterization of CrN\/DLC\/Cr-DLC multilayer coating with improved adhesive wear resistance","volume":"439","author":"Sui","year":"2018","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"396","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2018.01.052","article-title":"Investigation of Cr(N)\/DLC multilayer coatings elaborated by PVD for high wear resistance and low friction applications","volume":"337","author":"Duminica","year":"2018","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.1016\/S0925-9635(00)00530-6","article-title":"Thick, well-adhered, highly stressed tetrahedral amorphous carbon","volume":"10","author":"Chhowalla","year":"2001","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"663","DOI":"10.1016\/S0925-9635(99)00339-8","article-title":"Preparation of tetrahedral amorphous carbon films by filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition","volume":"9","author":"Polo","year":"2000","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1016\/S0257-8972(97)00007-8","article-title":"Pulsed laser deposition of diamond-like carbon wear protective coatings: A review","volume":"92","author":"Voevodin","year":"1997","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1643","DOI":"10.1016\/S0925-9635(02)00109-7","article-title":"Effect of film thickness on the stress and adhesion of diamond-like carbon coatings","volume":"11","author":"Sheeja","year":"2002","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11089","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevB.62.11089","article-title":"Density, sp3 fraction, and cross-sectional structure of amorphous carbon films determined by X-ray reflectivity and electron energy-loss spectroscopy","volume":"62","author":"Ferrari","year":"2000","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. B"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"428","DOI":"10.1016\/S0925-9635(98)00262-3","article-title":"Diamond-like carbon: State of the art","volume":"8","author":"Grill","year":"1999","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"33","article-title":"Antiwear material criteria","volume":"3","author":"Neuville","year":"2009","journal-title":"JPJ Solids Struct."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1016\/S0927-796X(02)00005-0","article-title":"Diamond-like amorphous carbon","volume":"37","author":"Robertson","year":"2002","journal-title":"Mater. Sci. Eng. R"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1016\/0040-6090(93)90201-Y","article-title":"A simple model for the formation of compressive stress in thin films by ion bombardment","volume":"226","author":"Davis","year":"1993","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4117","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevB.53.4117","article-title":"Molecular-dynamics study of compressive stress generation","volume":"53","author":"Marks","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. B"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7191","DOI":"10.1063\/1.370531","article-title":"Stress reduction and bond stability during thermal annealing of tetrahedral amorphous carbon","volume":"85","author":"Ferrari","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"051902","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4997324","article-title":"Ion induced stress relaxation in dense sputter-deposited DLC thin films","volume":"111","author":"Aijaz","year":"2017","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diamond.2011.12.043","article-title":"A strategy for increased carbon ionization in magnetron sputtering discharges","volume":"23","author":"Aijaz","year":"2012","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"061504","DOI":"10.1116\/1.4964749","article-title":"Synthesis of hydrogenated diamondlike carbon thin films using neon-acetylene based high power impulse magnetron sputtering discharges","volume":"34","author":"Aijaz","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1858","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2008.07.014","article-title":"Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the stoney equation for film stress: Developments from polycrystalline steel strips to single crystal silicon wafers","volume":"517","author":"Janssen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/S1079-4050(00)80009-5","article-title":"Plasma physics","volume":"Volume 27","author":"Hopwood","year":"2000","journal-title":"Thin Films: Ionized Physical Vapor Deposition"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14095","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_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1771","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diamond.2007.07.019","article-title":"Surface roughness evolution and growth mechanism of carbon films from hyperthermal species","volume":"16","author":"Lifshitz","year":"2007","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1659","DOI":"10.1016\/S0925-9635(99)00087-4","article-title":"Diamond-like carbon\u2014Present status","volume":"8","author":"Lifshitz","year":"1999","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Donnet, C., and Erdemir, A. (2008). Tribology of Diamond-Like Carbon Films: Fundamentals and Applications, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-0-387-49891-1"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1016\/S0925-9635(00)00461-1","article-title":"Study of the mechanical properties of tetrahedral amorphous carbon films by nanoindentation and nanowear measurements","volume":"10","author":"Polo","year":"2001","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1264","DOI":"10.1016\/0925-9635(96)00538-9","article-title":"Friction induced phase transformation of pulsed laser deposited diamond-like carbon","volume":"5","author":"Voevodin","year":"1996","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diamond.2017.05.010","article-title":"Structure, mechanical and tribological properties of Ti-doped amorphous carbon films simultaneously deposited by magnetron sputtering and pulse cathodic arc","volume":"77","author":"Ming","year":"2017","journal-title":"Diam. Relat. Mater."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2954","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2011.12.028","article-title":"Thermal stability and oxidation resistance of Ti\u2013Al\u2013N coatings","volume":"206","author":"Chen","year":"2012","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2474","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2011.10.053","article-title":"Tribological behavior of thick CrN coatings deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering","volume":"206","author":"Lin","year":"2012","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Technol."}],"container-title":["Coatings"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6412\/8\/11\/385\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T15:26:45Z","timestamp":1760196405000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6412\/8\/11\/385"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,29]]},"references-count":28,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11]]}},"alternative-id":["coatings8110385"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/coatings8110385","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-6412"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-6412","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,29]]}}}