CVD Growth of ZrC Layers at Different Temperatures

BAB Alawad^{1, 2,} , S Biira¹, H Bissett³, JT Nel³, TT Hlatshwayo¹, PL Crouse⁴ and JB Malherbe¹

¹Department of Physics, University of Pretoria 0028, South Africa

²Department of Physics, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan

³Applied Chemistry Division, South Africa Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), P.O Box 582, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

⁴Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria 0028, South Africa

Cite this paper:
BAB Alawad, S Biira, H Bissett, JT Nel, TT Hlatshwayo, PL Crouse and JB Malherbe. CVD Growth of ZrC Layers at Different Temperatures. Physics and Materials Chemistry. 2016; 4(1):6-9. doi: 10.12691/pmc-4-1-2

Abstract

Zirconium carbide (ZrC) layers were grown on a graphite substrate by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) at 1250°C, 1300°C and 1350°C. Zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl₄), methane (CH4), hydrogen (H₂) and argon (Ar) were used as precursors. The deposited ZrC layers were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XDR showed ZrC characteristic peaks with free carbon. Free carbon incorporated in the ZrC layer increased with deposition temperature. The average of grain size also increased with deposition temperature. The latter findings were confirmed by SEM results.

Keywords:
chemical vapour deposition (CVD) ZrC XRD SEM

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