Synergistic effect of bias and target currents for magnetron sputtered MoS2-Ti composite films

In terms of modification of the properties of MoS2-Ti composite films, especially tribological properties, significant advances have recently been recorded. However, the commercially production of MoS2-Ti composite films is still limited, because the production of desirable MoS2-Ti composite coating is only possible by using closed field unbalanced magnetron systems and by the selection of convenient deposition parameters. This requirement has focused the researchers' attention on optimization of deposition parameters. This study is concentrating on the effect of the bias voltage and the target currents for MoS2-Ti composite films deposited by pulsed magnetron sputtering (PMS). It is found that the bias and the target currents clearly affect the mechanical, structural and tribological properties of MoS2-Ti films.