Tribological Performance of Magnetron-Sputtered MoS₂/SiC Composites on Silicon Substrates: Influence of Composition...

To investigate the regulatory mechanism of the composition ratio of silicon carbide (SiC) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) composite coatings on the tribological properties of silicon substrates, a series of composite films were fabricated via magnetron sputtering technology. A rotational friction test was conducted to measure the tribological properties, and it was found that the average friction coefficient (ACOF) (3 samples in total) monotonically decreased from 0.124 ± 0.007 to 0.082 ± 0.004 with increasing MoS₂ content. However, the friction coefficient increased with the absence of the SiC interlayer (S6), indicating that there was an optimal sputtering ratio between MoS₂ and SiC (the ACOF of S5 decreased by 33% compared to that of S1). Combined with an analysis of the composition ratios, the synergistic mechanism between the wear-resistant enhancement effect of SiC and the solid lubrication effect of MoS₂ was investigated. A composite film system with a continuous gradient change in SiC and MoS₂ sputtering time was innovatively constructed, establishing a quantitative model to provide insights into the synergistic lubrication mechanism of multicomponent materials. Moreover, the findings can facilitate understanding of the composition design and mechanism studies of lubricating wear-resistant films on silicon-based device surfaces.