Nickel carbide films obtained by vacuum-arc plasma deposition. Effects of ion bombardment

The paper examines the effects of ion bombardment flux (j
_i
) on film characteristics, under the conditions when ion energy (E
_i
) and the ratio of the ion flux to the flux of deposited atoms (j
_i
/j
_a
) were kept constant, considering nickel carbide films deposited on Si(100) and C45 steel substrates by the cathodic arc method in a CH
₄
+Ar mixture. The substrate current density was varied from 2.7 to 5.1 mA/cm
²
by using either one or two cathodes. The coatings were investigated in terms of elemental and phase composition, chemical bondings, texture, residual stress, hardness and tribological performance. The experimental results showed that film crystallinity, hardness, friction and wear resistance of the NiC coatings improved at increased ion bombardment intensity.