Structure and properties of a-C films containing metals and products of their interaction with nitrogen, carbon

(Cu-CrN):a-C and (Al-CrN):a-C coatings were deposited using vacuum-plasma methods, their chemical and phase composition, mechanical properties were determined. The features of the formation of nitride and carbide compounds with the content of chromium, copper or aluminum in the coating have been established by the XPS method. It was shown that the concentration of nitrogen-containing bonds and the content of the carbide phase in the (Al-CrN):a-C coating significantly exceed their content in the (Cu-CrN):a-C coating. The tribotechnical properties of coatings during friction against steel ШХ15, Al$_2$O$_3$ and Si$_3$N$_4$ have been determined. It is shown that a lower value of the friction coefficient is recorded during contact interaction (Al-CrN):a-C with steel ШХ15 (0.2), and the minimum coefficient of volumetric wear of the counterbody was obtained in the pair of friction with Al$_2$O$_3$ (1.08$\times$10$^{-10}$ m$^3$/(N$\cdot$m)). It was shown by the indentation method that the introduction of copper increases the ductility of the coatings, while their hardness decreases slightly. (Al-CrN):a-C coatings are characterized by a higher hardness (14.2 GPa) and the coefficient of elastic recovery $\eta_{IT}$ is 51.8 % at an indentation depth of 500 nm.