Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 October 2014
Diamond-like-Carbon composite films, with embedded gold nanoparticles, were deposited onto glass substrates by using capacitively coupled plasma chemical vapour deposition (CCP-CVD) technique. The volume fraction of the metal nanoparticles in the films as well as the size of the nanoparticles was varied by varying the percentage of argon in the methane + argon mixture during the deposition. Bonding environments in these films were obtained from Raman and GIXRD. The nanomechanical and nanotribological properties of the Au-DLC nanocomposite films were evaluated. In situ SPM imaging was utilized to depict deformation characteristics developed during the static and dynamic contact events. Influence of metal incorporation on the extent of sp2/sp3 hybridization and thereby on the nanomechanical and nanotribological properties of the DLC films was studied.