The Effect of a TiN Interlayer on the Tribological Properties of Diamond-like Carbon Films Deposited on 7A04 Aluminum Alloy

Aluminum-based alloys are known to be significant candidates in the automotive and aerospace industries. However, the relatively poor wear resistance of aluminum alloys restricts their further application. In this paper, diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are deposited on the 7A04 aluminum alloy to improve its wear resistance by electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Before the DLC film deposition, TiN films were first fabricated as interlayer between the 7A04 aluminum alloy and DLC films by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The influence of the TiN buffer layer on the mechanical properties of the DLC film is studied. The results showed that the TiN interlayer could provide enough mechanical support for the DLC films by suppressing plastic deformation of the aluminum alloy and then could effectively improve wear resistance of DLC films on 7A04 aluminum alloy.