Tribological Behavior of Cubic Boron Nitride Film Sliding Against Diamond

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) film was deposited onto a silicon substrate by means of a magnetically enhanced plasma ion plating method utilizing a hot cathode plasma discharge in parallel magnetic field. In this study, the friction and wear behaviors of the c-BN film, particularly when it came into sliding contact with diamond, were investigated using a reciprocating tribometer in an applied normal load range of 0.1 ~ 4.9 N. The results showed that the friction coefficient of the c-BN film sliding against the diamond indenter tended to decrease as the load increased, and was very low, exhibiting values of 0.03 ~ 0.065 at the maximum load of 4.9 N. Furthermore, the study confirmed that the friction coefficient of annealed c-BN film was lower than that of as-deposited c-BN film throughout the whole load range. Judging from the results of comparable investigations in which c-BN film came into contact with other materials such as c-BN compact, SiC and stainless steel, the wear performance and peeling resistance of the c-BN film proved to be significantly better in the case of contact with diamond.