Process for depositing on substrates, by cathode sputtering, a self-lubricating coating of metal chalcogenides and the coating obtained by this process

In a process for depositing, by cathode sputtering, a self-lubricating coating of a metal chalcogenide, according to which a target of the material to be sputtered, comprising a chalcogenide or a mixture of chalcogenides, is bombarded with ions formed by a cathode discharge produced in the immediate vicinity of the said target and in a rare gas atmosphere, the materials thus expelled from the target being deposited on a substrate placed opposite the said target, the improvement wherein the cathode space of the said target is subjected to a magnetic field, the distance between the target and the said substrate is adjusted so that it corresponds approximately to the mean free path of the molecules expelled from the target, and the sputtering current density is such that the rate of deposition of the surface of the substrate opposite the said target is at least 0.1 .mu.m/minute, under conditions so as to form turbostratic deposits on the substrate.