ENHANCED DEPOSITION

EFFECTIVE SOLID LUBRICANTS (E.E., M0S2) REQUIRE (1) STRONG LUBRICANT FILM-TO-SUBSTRATE ADHERENCE AND (2) LOW SHEAR STRENGTHS WITHIN THE SOLID LUBRICANT MATERIAL. THE TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF SUCH FILMS ARE STRONGLY DEPENDENT ON THE STOICHIOMETRY AND STRUCTURE OF THE FLIMS WHICH IN TURN ARE HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO DEPOSITION CONDITIONS AND SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURE AND TOPAGRAPHY. PRESENT DEPOSITION TGECHNIQUES (E.G., RF SPUTTERING) ARE LIMITED IN THE THICKNESS OF SOLID LUBRICANTS (E.G., M0S2) THAT SHOW THEDESIRED CRYSTAL STRUCTURE. THE USE OF SIMULTANEOUS THIN FILMM DEPOSITION AND ION BOMBARDMENT IS PROPOSED TO EXTEND CONTROL OF THE FILM GROWTH AND ITS STRUCTURE TO ARBITRARILY THICK COATINGS OF SELECTED FILMS (M0S2 AND WSE2) WHILE ENSURING SUPERIOR THIN FILMS SUBSTRATE ADHESION.