Deposition and characterization of diamond-like nanocomposite coatings grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition over different substrate materials

Diamond-like nanocomposite (DLN) coatings have been deposited over different substrates used for biomedical applications by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). DLN has an interconnecting network of amorphous hydrogenated carbon and quartz-like oxygenated silicon. Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform–infra red (FT–IR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used for structural characterization. Typical DLN growth rate is about 1 ${\upmu} $ m/h, measured by stylus profilometer. Due to the presence of quartz-like Si:O in the structure, it is found to have very good adhesive property with all the substrates. The adhesion strength found to be as high as 0·6 N on SS 316 L steel substrates by scratch testing method. The Young’s modulus and hardness have found to be 132 GPa and 14· 4 GPa, respectively. DLN coatings have wear factor in the order of 1 × 10 − 7 mm 3 /N-m. This coating has found to be compatible with all important biomedical substrate materials and has successfully been deposited over Co–Cr alloy based knee implant of complex shape.