Using facing target magnetron sputtering (FTMS) with a graphite target source, carbon nitride thin films were deposited on silicon and glass substrates at different substrate temperatures to confirm the tribological, electrical, and structural properties of thin films. The substrate temperatures were room temperature, 150℃, and 300℃. The tribology and electrical properties of the carbon nitride thin films were measured as the substrate temperature increased, and a study on the relation between these results and structural properties was conducted. The results show that the increase in the substrate temperature during the fabrication of the carbon nitride thin films increased the hardness and elastic modulus values, the critical load value was increased, and the residual stress value was reduced. Moreover, the increase in the substrate temperature during thin-film deposition was attributed to the improvement in the electrical properties of carbon nitride thin film.

We investigated the tribological properties of amorphous carbon (a-C) films deposited with CrC interlayers of various thicknesses as the adhesive layer. A-C and CrC thin films were deposited using the unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering method with graphite and chromium as the targets. CrC films as the interlayer were fabricated under a-C films, and various structural, surface, and tribological properties of a-C films deposited with various CrC interlayer thicknesses were investigated. With various CrC interlayer thicknesses under a-C films, the tribological properties of CrC/a-C films were improved; the increased film thickness exhibited a maximum high hardness of over 27.5 GPa, high elastic modulus of over 242 GPa, critical load of 31 N, residual stress of 1.85 GPa, and a smooth surface below 0.09 nm at the condition of 30-nm CrC thickness.