Metal containing hydrogenated diamond-like carbon coatings (Me-DLC, Me = Al, Ti, or Nb) of 3 ± 0.2 μm thickness were deposited by a magnetron sputtering-RFPECVD hybrid process in an Ar/H₂/C₂H₂ mixture. The composition and structure were investigated by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The residual stress was measured using the curvature method and nanoindentation was used to determine the hardness and the Young’s modulus. A Ball-on-disk tribometer was employed to investigate the frictional properties and sliding wear resistance of films. The results show that the properties depend on the nature and the Me content in the coatings. The doping of the DLC coatings leads to a decrease in hardness, Young’s modulus, and residual stresses. Wear rate of the films first decreases with intermediate Me contents and then increases for higher Me contents. Significant improvements in the friction coefficient on steel as well as in the wear rate are observed for all Al-DLC coatings, and, concerning the friction coefficient, the lowest value is measured at 0.04 as compared to 0.07 for the undoped DLC.

High-entropy films (HEFs) are of considerable interest in surface engineering applications due to their superior properties, such as good corrosion resistance, good thermal stability and excellent high temperature oxidation. Recently, the scientific community has seen an increasing development of the multicomponent coatings, improving their properties compared to conventional films. Technically, different strategies have been exploited to fabricate HEFs. Magnetron-sputtered HEFs have made significant advancements in this field. HEFs have various applications given their interesting performances. This article overviews the development and the outcome of HEFs prepared using the magnetron sputtering technique. The classification of HEFs is reported. The effect of magnetron sputtering parameters on the microstructural, mechanical, electrochemical and thermal properties of HEFs is also discussed. Applications of HEFs are reported in the last section.

CuCr _0.93 Mg _0.07 O ₂ thin films with improved optoelectronic properties were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering on fused quartz substrates. The influence of annealing temperature under vacuum on optoelectronic properties of the films was investigated. The amorphous films annealed under vacuum at temperatures higher than 923 K are single-phased delafossite structure, while impurity phases like CuCr ₂ O ₄ that affect the optoelectronic properties of the films are detected below 873 K. c -axis orientation is observed for CuCr _0.93 Mg _0.07 O ₂ layers and the annealing temperature window in which the films are single-phased delafossite is much larger with Mg doping (923 K → 1073 K) than that for undoped films (~953 K). The optical and electrical behaviours of the films are enhanced by Mg substitution and their direct band gap energy of about 3.12–3.14 eV is measured. The film possesses the optimum properties after annealing under vacuum at about 1023 K; its average transmittance in the visible region can reach 54.23% while the film’s conductivity is about 0.27 S cm ⁻¹ .