Deposition Mechanism for Chemical Vapor Deposition of Zirconium Carbide Coatings

Abstract

Zirconium carbide (ZrC) coatings were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using ZrCl4, CH4/C3H6, and H2 as precursors. Both thermodynamic calculation results and the film compositions at different temperatures indicated that zirconium and carbon deposited separately during the CVD process. The ZrC deposition rates were measured for CH4 or C3H6 as carbon sources at different temperatures based on coating thickness. The activation energies for ZrC deposition demonstrated that the CVD ZrC process is controlled by the carbon deposition. This is also proven by the morphologies of ZrC coatings.

Calculation and synthesis of ZrC by CVD from ZrCl4–C3H6–H2–Ar system with high H2 percentage

“…According to previous experimental and theoretical results on the deposition of ZrC [15,16] and SiC [21,22], the ratio of reactant gases is critical in the synthesis process. To facilitate the calculation, the relationship between ˛, ˇ and the production of condensedphases (ZrC and C) was firstly illustrated.…”

“…Several studies reported the CVD of zirconium carbide and carbon-zirconium carbide alloys [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The ZrC coatings are generally synthesized by zirconium halide [11,12] and hydrocarbons, such as CH 4 and C 3 H 6 [14,15].…”

Design and fabrication of a chemical vapour deposition system with special reference to ZrC layer growth characteristics

“…The presence of free carbon in ZrC with increase deposition temperatures was also reported by Wang et al ( 2008). The increase in carbon content may be attributed to the differences in the decomposition rates of methane and ZrCl4 as the temperature in the reaction zone is increased.…”

Preparation of ZrC nano-particles reinforced amorphous carbon composite coating by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition

“…Zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl 4 ) was used as zirconium source and propene (C 3 H 6 ) as carbon source. The deposition process can be described as [21]:…”