Chemical vapour deposition plasma-enhanced technique

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition has gained importance rapidly in recent years, because this technique provides some unique advantages over conventional CVD. The important advantages include lower deposition temperatures, deposition of non-epuilibrium phases and a better control of stoichiometry and purity of deposits. In this technique, the activation energy for the breakdown of reactive species, and their subsequent interaction with other species to form a deposit, is provided by the high kinetic energy of electrons in the plasma (figure 13.2). 

Diamond/p-SiC nanocomposite films were synthesized by using microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (MWCVD) technique. H2, CH4, and Si(CH3)4 (tetramethylsilane, TMS) gas mixtures were employed during the film depositions. In all the film depositions, H2 and CH4 gas flow rates were 400 and 2.5 seem respectively, with the total gas pressure kept constant at 25 Torr. The deposition temperature and microwave power used were 700 °C and 700 W respectively. 

In recent years, a number of coating process technologies have been developed, based on chemical vapour deposition (CVD), such as metalorganic precursor CVD [32] and plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) [33], as alternative techniques to deposit columnar structures. Results reported so far, while promising, do not seem to offer a significant improvement in performance or durability over... 

Dudek, L. (2011). Plasma Polymer Electrolyte Coatings for 3D Microbatteries, In IGERT 2011 Poster Competition, Available from Ennajdaoui, A. Roualdes, S. Brault, P. Durand, J. (2010). Membranes Produced by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Technique for Low Temperature Fuel Cell Applications. /. Power Sources, Vol. 195, pp. 232-238 Fonseca, J.L.C. Apperley, D.C. Badyal, J.P.S. (1993). Plasma Polymerization of Tetramethylsilane. Chem. Mater., Vol. 5, pp. 1676-1682 Fujii, E. Torii, H. Tomozawa, A. Takayama, R. Hirao, T. (1995). Preparation of Cobalt Oxide Films by Plasma-Enhanced Metalorganic Chemical Vapour Deposition. /. Mater. Set, Vol. 30, pp. 6013-6018... 

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