Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Ti-B-N coatings deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Ternary Ti-B-N coatings were synthesized on AISI 304 and Si wafer by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique using a gaseous mixture of TiCl4,BCl3,H2,N2,and Ar.By virtue of X-ray diffraction analysis,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,scanning electron microscope,and high-resolution transmission electron microscope,the influences of B content on the microstructure and properties of Ti B N coatings were investigated systematically.The results indicated that the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-B-N coatings largely depend on the transformation from FCC-TiN phase to HCP-TiB2 phase.With increasing B content and decreasing N content in the coatings,the coating microstructure evolves gradually from FCC-TiN/a-BN to HCP-TiB2 /a-BN via FCC-TiN+HCP-TiB2/a-BN.The highest microhardness of about 34 GPa is achieved,which corresponds to the nanocomposite Ti-63%B-N (mole fraction) coating consisting of the HCP-TiB2 nano-crystallites and amorphous BN phase.The lowest friction-coefficient was observed for the nanocomposite Ti-41%B-N (mole fraction) coating consisting of the FCC-TiN nanocrystallites and amorphous BN

Effective parameters on diameter of carbon nanotubes by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The effective parameters on the diameter of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were presented.Among lots of influential parameters,the effects of the catalytic film thickness and the pretreatment plasma power on the growth of CNTs were investigated.The results show that the size of catalytic islands increases by increasing the thickness of catalytic layer,but the density of CNTs decreases.The pretreatment duration time of 30 s is the optimal condition for growing CNTs with about 50 nm in diameter.By increasing the pretreatment plasma power,the diameter of CNTs decreases gradually.However,the diameter of CNTs does not change drastically from 80 to 120 W.The uniformly grown CNTs with the diameter of 50 nm are obtained at the pretreatment plasma power of 100 W.

Fabrication and characterization of iron and iron carbide thin films by plasma enhanced pulsed chemical vapor deposition

A new pulsed chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) process has been developed to fabricate iron (Fe) and iron carbide (Fe1-xCx) thin films at low temperature range from 150℃ to 230℃. The process employs bis(1,4-di-tert-butyl-1,3-diazabutadienyl)iron(II) as iron source and hydrogen gas or hydrogen plasma as the coreactant. The films deposited with hydrogen gas are demonstrated polycrystalline with body-centered cubic Fe. However, for the films deposited with hydrogen plasma, the amorphous phase of iron carbide is obtained. The influence of the deposition temperature on iron and iron carbide characteristics have been investigated.

Characterization of Crystalline Nanoparticles/Nanorods Synthesized by Atmospheric Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of Perfluorohexane

A mass of nanoparticles/nanorods were formed on a simultaneously deposited gran- ular film by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition （PECVD） of perfluorohexane at atmo- spheric pressure without any catalysts or templates. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） were used to characterize the morphology and the chem- ical compositions of nanoparticles. The average size of particles is about 100 nm and the length of synthesized nanorods is between 1 μm and 2.5/tm. The analyses of transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）, selected area electron diffraction（SAED） and X-ray diffraction （XRD） reveals that the nanoparticles and nanorods are crystalline.

The Gas Nucleation Process Study of Anatase TiO_2 in Atmospheric Non-Thermal Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract The gas phase nucleation process of anatase TiO2 in atmospheric non-thermal plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is studied. The particles synthesized in the plasma gas phase at different power density were collected outside of the reactor. The structure of the collected particles has been investigated by field scanning electron microscope （FESEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM） and selected area electron diffraction （SAED）. The analysis shows that uniform crystalline nuclei with average size of several nanometers have been formed in the scale of micro second through this reactive atmo- spheric plasma gas process. The crystallinity of the nanoparticles increases with power density. The high density of crystalline nanonuclei in the plasma gas phase and the low gas temperature are beneficial to the fast deposition of the 3D porous anatase TiO2 film.

Characteristics and Electrical Properties of SiNx:H Films Fabricated by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

SiNx：H films with different N/Si ratios are synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition （PECVD）. Composition and structure characteristics are detected by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. It indicates that Si-N bonds increase with increased NH3/SiH4 ratio. Electrical property investigations by I-V measurements show that the prepared films offer higher resistivity and less leakage current with increased N/Si ratio and exhibit entirely insulating properties when N/Si ratio reaches 0.9, which is ascribed to increased Si-N bonds achieved.

Preparation of Nano-Crystalline Diamond Films on Poly-Crystalline Diamond Thick Films by Microwave Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Nano-crystalline diamond （NCD） films were prepared on poly-crystalline diamond （PCD） thick flims by the microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition （MPCVD） method. Free standing PCD thick film （50 mm in diameter） with a thickness of 413 μm was deposited in CHn/H2 plasma. It was then abraded for 2 hours and finally cut into pieces in a size of 10×10 mm^2 by pulse laser. NCD fihns were deposited on the thick film substrates by introducing a micro-crystalline diamond （MCD） interlayer. Results showed that a higher carbon concentration （5%） and a lower substrate temperature （650℃） were feasible to obtain a highly smooth interlayer, and the appropriate addition of oxygen （2%） into the gas mixture was conducive to obtaining a smooth nano-crystalline diamond film with a tiny grain size.

Structural evolution and optical characterization in argon diluted Si:H thin films obtained by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The structural evolution and optical characterization of hydrogenated silicon(Si:H) thin films obtained by conventional radio frequency(RF) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) through decomposition of silane diluted with argon were studied by X-ray diffractometry(XRD),Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy,Raman spectroscopy,transmission electron microscopy(TEM),and ultraviolet and visible(UV-vis) spectroscopy,respectively.The influence of argon dilution on the optical properties of the thin films was also studied.It is found that argon as dilution gas plays a significant role in the growth of nano-crystal grains and amorphous network in Si:H thin films.The structural evolution of the thin films with different argon dilution ratios is observed and it is suggested that argon plasma leads to the nanocrystallization in the thin films during the deposition process.The nanocrystallization initiating at a relatively low dilution ratio is also observed.With the increase of argon portion in the mixed precursor gases,nano-crystal grains in the thin films evolve regularly.The structural evolution is explained by a proposed model based on the energy exchange between the argon plasma constituted with Ar* and Ar+ radicals and the growth regions of the thin films.It is observed that both the absorption of UV-vis light and the optical gap decrease with the increase of dilution ratio.

Hydrophobic Ti_xO_y-C_mH_n Nanoparticle Film Prepared by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

The hydrophobic films of TixOy-CmHn deposited from mixture gases of titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and oxygen by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were investigated. The films were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), element analysis (EA), ultraviolet visible spectrometer (UV-Vis), and water contact angle (WCA). The results reveal that the surface of the films is formed by microsized papillaes aggregated by inorganic and organic phases of complex nanoparticles with size from 50 nm to 200 nm when the discharge power is increased from 40 W to 150 W. All films demonstrate the strong broad of Ti-O-Ti stretching vibration at 400-800 cm-1, -CH bending vibration at 1388 cm-1, and broadening -OH stretching vibration at 3000-3500 cm-1. With the increase of the discharge power, the as-deposited film changes from amorphous to crystallization. The WCA of the film can be as high as 160°, indicating the hydrophobicity. The films show a similar ultraviolet absorption property as the bulk TiO2 film. The composition of the composition of film deposited at 150 W can be formulated as Ti0.3O2-C1.5H3. Therefore, the composition formula of this hydrophobic film could be expressed as TiO2-C5H10O4.7. It is believed that the complex micro/nano structures of TiO2 and C5H10O4.7 residues are responsible for the observed hydrophobicity and the ultraviolet absorption property of the film.

Catalyst Enhanced Chemical Vapor Depositionof Nickel on Polymer Surface

Catalyst enhanced chemical vapor deposition of nickel film on high Tg polymers such as teflon(PTFE), polyimide(PI), and polysulfone(PS) was investigated by hot wall and cold wall CVD, in which Ni(dmg)_2, Ni(acac)_2, Ni(hfac)_2, Ni(TMHD)_2, and Ni(cp)_2 are used as precursors, and palladium complexes are used as catalysts. The films obtained were shiny with silvery color. The Ni was metallic and the purity of Ni was about 92%-95% from XPS analysis. SEM micrographs show that the film had good morphology. The conductivity of the film was about 0.5-4 W·cm^(-1). Ni films had good adhesion with polyimide and polysulfone.

Influence of ignition condition on the growth of silicon thin films using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition

The influences of the plasma ignition condition in plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （PECVD） on the interfaces and the microstructures of hydrogenated microcrystalline Si （μc-Si：H） thin films are investigated. The plasma ignition condition is modified by varying the ratio of Sill4 to H2 （RH）. For plasma ignited with a constant gas ratio, the time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy presents a low value of the emission intensity ratio of Ha to Sill＊ （Iuα//SiH＊） at the initial stage, which leads to a thick amorphous incubation layer. For the ignition condition with a profiling RH, the higher IHα/ISiH＊ values are realized. By optimizing the RN modulation, a uniform crystallinity along the growth direction and a denser αc-Si：H film can be obtained. However, an excessively high IRα/ISIH＊ may damage the interface properties, which is indicated by capacitance-voltage （C-V） measurements. Well controlling the ignition condition is critically important for the applications of Si thin films.

Influence of oxygen on the growth of cubic boron nitride thin films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition

Cubic boron nitride thin films were deposited on silicon substrates by low-pressure inductively coupled plasmaenhanced chemical vapour deposition. It was found that the introduction of 02 into the deposition system suppresses both nucleation and growth of cubic boron nitride. At a B2H6 concentration of 2.5% during film deposition, the critical O2 concentration allowed for the nucleation of cubic boron nitride was found to be less than 1.4%, while that for the growth of cubic boron nitride was higher than 2.1%. Moreover, the infrared absorption peak observed at around 1230- 1280 cm^-1, frequently detected for cubic boron nitride films prepared using non-ultrahigh vacuum systems, appears to be due to the absorption of boron oxide, a contaminant formed as a result of the oxygen impurity. Therefore, the existence of trace oxygen contamination in boron nitride films can be evaluated qualitatively by this infrared absorption peak.

Formation and Characterization of Pd,Pt and Pd-Pt Alloy Films on Polyimide by Catalyst-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Platinum, palladium and their alloy films on polyimide were formed by catalyst-enhanced chemical vapor deposition （CVD） in the carrier gas （N2, O2） at 220-300℃ under reduced pressure and normal pressure. The deposition of palladium complexes [ Pd（（η3-allyl）（hfac） and Pd（hfac）2 ] gives pure palladium film, while the deposition of platinum needs the enhancement of palladium complex by mixing precursor platinum complex Pt（COD）Me2 and palladium complex in the same chamber. The co-deposition of Pd and Pt metals was used for the deposition of alloy films. During the CVD of palladium-platinum alloy, the Pd/Pt atomic ratios vary under different co-deposition conditions. These metal films were characterized by XPS and SEM, and show a good adhesive property.

Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition of Diamond Films on Silicon From Ethanol and Hydrogen

Diamond films with very smooth surface and good optical quality have been deposited onto silicon substrate using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) from a gas mixture of ethanol and hydrogen at a low substrate temperature of 450 ℃. The effects of the substrate temperature on the diamond nucleation and the morphology of the diamond film have been investigated and observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The microstructure and the phase of the film have been characterized using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The diamond nucleation density significantly decreases with the increasing of the substrate temperature. There are only sparse nuclei when the substrate temperature is higher than 800 ℃ although the ethanol concentration in hydrogen is very high. That the characteristic diamond peak in the Raman spectrum of a diamond film prepared at a low substrate temperature of 450 ℃ extends into broadband indicates that the film is of nanophase. No graphite peak appeare

Nanocrystalline Diamond Films Grown by Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition and Its Biocompatible Property

Due to its unique properties such as high hardness, light transmittance, thermal conductance, chemical stability and corrosion resistance, diamond has drawn tremendous attention in last two decades. These specific properties made diamond film a promising material for cutting tools, microwave windows, heat sinks for electronic devices and diamond electrodes. However, the diamond film with grain sizes at microscale usually exhibits high surface roughness and hinders its applications in the microelectro mechanical system (MEMS) and biological field because it is difficult to be polished by mechanical and chemical methods. With the development of the chemical vapor deposition, the nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) film has been fabricated and found new applications. The grain size of NCD film is in the range of 10 to 100 nm, which inherits the properties of the diamond and possesses the unique properties of the nanoscale materials, and the morphology of the NCD film is granular or needle-like structure. The microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) has been regarded as the most promising method to deposit NCD film at low temperature. Compared to the hot filament CVD, MPCVD can grow high quality NCD film avoiding of the contamination from the filament materials. The MPCVD technique has high plasma density to activate carbonaceous compound and grow NCD film in high growth rate and low substrate temperature. The unique properties of NCD film, such as the superior electrical, mechanical and biological properties facilitate their application in various fields. The biological application, especially as a biocompatible coating, mainly includes the joint replacement implants and protective coatings and the ophthalmological prosthesis.

Growth of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes through Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized on glass by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MWPCVD) with a mixture of methane and hydrogen gases at the low temperature of 550 ℃. The experimental results show that both the self-bias potential and the density of the catalyst particles are responsible for the alignment of CNTs. When the catalyst particle density is high enough, strong interactions among the CNTs can inhibit CNTs from growing randomly and result in parallel alignment.

A perspective of microplasma oxidation (MPO) and vapor deposition coatings in surface engineering of aluminum alloys

Over the past years, great achievements have been made in the development of coating technologies for surface improvement of aluminum alloys. Despite these achievements, the role in the market strongly depends on the ability of surface coating technology under technical and economic considerations to meet the increased demands for heavy tribological applications of aluminum alloys. Microplasma oxidation (MPO) technology has recently been studied as a novel and effective means to provide thick and hard ceramic coating with improved properties such as excellent load-bearing and wear resistance properties on aluminum alloys. The present work covers the evaluation of the performances of current single and duplex coatings combining MPO, physical vapor deposition (PVD), and plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) coatings on aluminum alloys. It suggests that the MPO coating is a promising candidate for design engineers to apply aluminum alloys to heavy load-bearing applications. The prospective future for the research on MPO coatings is introduced as well.

Preparation of TiO2/MCM-41 by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method and its photocatalytic activity

Titanium dioxide is coated on the surface of MCM-41 wafer through the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition （PECVD） method using titanium isopropoxide （TTIP） as a precursor. Annealing temperature is a key factor affecting crystal phase of titanium dioxide. It will transform an amorphous structure to a polycrystalline structure by increasing temperature. The optimum anatase phase of TiO2 which can acquire the best methanol conversion under UV-light irradiation is obtained under an annealing temperature of 700℃ for 2 h, substrate tem- perature of 500~C, 70 mL. min1 of oxygen flow rate, and 100W of plasma power. In addition, the films are composed of an anatase-rutile mixed phase, and the ratio of anatase to rutile varies with substrate temperature and oxygen flow rate. The particle sizes of titanium dioxide are between 30.3 nm and 59.9nm by the calculation of Scherrer equation. Under the reaction conditions of ll6.8mg.L-1 methanol, 2.9mg.L-1 moisture, and 75~C of reaction temperature, the best conversion of methanol with UV-light is 48.2% by using the anatase-rutile （91.3/ 8.7） mixed phase TiO2 in a batch reactor for 60 min. While under fluorescent light irradiation, the best photoactivity appears by using the anatase-rutile （55.4/44.6） mixed phase TiO2 with a conversion of 40.0%.

High rate deposition of microcrystalline silicon films by high-pressure radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin films were prepared by high- pressure radio-frequency (13.56 MHz) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (rf-PECVD) with a screened plasma. The deposition rate and crystallinity varying with the deposition pressure, rf power, hydrogen dilution ratio and electrodes distance were systematically studied. By optimizing the deposition parameters the device quality μc-Si:H films have been achieved with a high deposition rate of 7.8 /s at a high pressure. The Voc of 560 mV and the FF of 0.70 have been achieved for a single-junction μc-Si:H p-i-n solar cell at a deposition rate of 7.8 /s.