Hardness and tribochemical evaluation of ultra-thin CH/sub x/ and CN/sub x/ overcoats

In this paper we present the results of nanoindentation hardness measurements, nano-wear measurements as well as tribochemical wear tests on a series of hydrogenated and nitrogenated carbon films. It is shown that the mechanical properties, such as hardness and abrasive wear resistance, while important, are not the primary determining factors in the wear durability of the head disk interface in magnetic hard disk drives.