Low Temperature Synthesis of Carbide Thin Films by Pulsed Laser Deposition (Pld)

Abstract

Thin films of titanium carbide (TiC) and boron carbide (B₄C) were grown by excimer pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at room temperature (RT) and 300°C. Films were deposited using the output of an excimer laser operating with KrF gas (λ = 248 nm, 15 ns pulse duration) to ablate hot-pressed targets. Film chemistry, morphology, and crystallinity were investigated. Stoichiometric, crystalline TiC films were grown on 440C stainless steel and NaCl substrates at room temperature and at 300°C. The films grown on NaCI were nanocrystallinc, cubic TiC, with a grain size ranging between 2 and 10 nm in diameter. Boron carbide films were grown on silicon {100} substrates at room temperature and at 300°C. Film chemistry and stoichiometry duplicated that of the B₄C target, which contained B₄C and a mixed C-B-O-N binder phase. SEM analysis indicated that the morphology of the films was uniform, nonporous, and fine-grained. The films exhibited good adhesion and wear resistance, based on friction and wear data collected with a ball-on-disc tribometer.