Reactive Pulsed Laser Deposition of Low-Friction Coatings from a Combination of 2H–MoS2 and 2H–WS2 Nanolamellae
摘要
The features of structural formation and tribological properties of multilayer coatings containing MoS2 and WS2 nanosheets were investigated. The coatings were formed using the pulsed laser deposition method from MoS2 and WO3 targets in a reactive H2S gas environment at an elevated substrate temperature. The selected layer thickness (~100 nm) prevented intermixing of Mo and W elements between the layers, while the use of a MoS2 target allowed supplementing the deposition of atomic flux by embedding Mo nanoballs into the growing coating. It was established that the deposited layers formed a layered crystalline structure containing differently oriented nanoplatelets of 2H–MoS2 and 2H–WS2. No disruption in the structure or atomic packing of the 2H–MoS2 and 2H–WS2 nanolamellae at the layer interfaces was detected. Tribological studies under low humidity conditions (relative humidity of 8%) showed that the unique multiphase structure realized in the coating provided sufficiently high antifriction properties during sliding friction. The coefficient of friction when sliding a steel ball over a Si substrate with a multilayer MoS2/WS2 coating approximately 2 μm thick was 0.015–0.02.