Nitrides techniques

Already in the 70s the successful introduction of solid-electrolyte probes into the heat-treatment technique of metallic materials started. Among others, carburizing (900 to 1000 °C), car-bonitriding (900 C) and nitriding (500 to 600 °C) gas phases are used. Measurements of the oxygen partial pressure serve to keep constant conditions in the heat treatment. Only some new results of the development of solid-electrolyte probes for the nitriding technique shall be discussed here. 

Staines AM, Bell T (1984) Surfaee hardening of stainless steels by plasma nitriding techniques. Stainl Steel Ind 12(68) 12-13... 

Material System. There are two basic techniques for the industrial synthesis of Si3N powder, although other methods are available (36). The older and most widely used method is the nitridation of siHcon. SiHcon is heated in a nitrogen [7727-37-9] atmosphere at temperatures of 1100—1450°C in... 

The materials deposited by PVD techniques include metals, semiconductors (qv), alloys, intermetaUic compounds, refractory compounds, ie, oxides, carbides, nitrides, borides, etc, and mixtures thereof. The source material must be pure and free of gases and inclusions, otherwise spitting may occur. 

Dielectric Deposition Systems. The most common techniques used for dielectric deposition include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, and spin-on films. In a CVD system thermal or plasma energy is used to decompose source molecules on the semiconductor surface (189). In plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD), typical source gases include silane, SiH, and nitrous oxide, N2O, for deposition of siUcon nitride. The most common CVD films used are siUcon dioxide, siUcon nitride, and siUcon oxynitrides. 

Plasmas can be used in CVD reactors to activate and partially decompose the precursor species and perhaps form new chemical species. This allows deposition at a temperature lower than thermal CVD. The process is called plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) (12). The plasmas are generated by direct-current, radio-frequency (r-f), or electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR) techniques. Eigure 15 shows a parallel-plate CVD reactor that uses r-f power to generate the plasma. This type of PECVD reactor is in common use in the semiconductor industry to deposit siUcon nitride, Si N and glass (PSG) encapsulating layers a few micrometers-thick at deposition rates of 5—100 nm /min. 

The methods of choice for beryUium oxide in beryUium metal are inert gas fusion and fast neutron activation. In the inert gas fusion technique, the sample is fused with nickel metal in a graphite cmcible under a stream of helium or argon. BeryUium oxide is reduced, and the evolved carbon monoxide is measured by infrared absorption spectrometry. BeryUium nitride decomposes under the same fusion conditions and may be determined by measurement of the evolved nitrogen. Oxygen may also be determined by activation with 14 MeV neutrons (20). The only significant interferents in the neutron activation technique are fluorine and boron, which are seldom encountered in beryUium metal samples. 

Vapor-Phase Techniques. Vapor-phase powder synthesis teclmiques, including vapor condensation, vapor decomposition, and vapor—vapor, vapor—Hquid, and vapor—soHd reactions, employ reactive vapors or gases to produce high purity, ultrafine, reactive ceramic powders. Many nonoxide powders, eg, nitrides and carbides, for advanced ceramics are prepared by vapor-phase synthesis. 

As an example of the use of AES to obtain chemical, as well as elemental, information, the depth profiling of a nitrided silicon dioxide layer on a silicon substrate is shown in Figure 6. Using the linearized secondary electron cascade background subtraction technique and peak fitting of chemical line shape standards, the chemistry in the depth profile of the nitrided silicon dioxide layer was determined and is shown in Figure 6. This profile includes information on the percentage of the Si atoms that are bound in each of the chemistries present as a function of the depth in the film. 

Early work in ellipsometry focused on improving the technique, whereas attention now emphasizes applications to materials analysis. New uses continue to be found however, ellipsometry traditionally has been used to determine film thicknesses (in the rang 1-1000 nm), as well as optical constants. " Common systems are oxide and nitride films on silicon v ers, dielectric films deposited on optical sur ces, and multilayer semiconductor strucmres. 

Unlike nitric oxide, NO, the monomeric radical sulfur nitride, NS, is only known as a short-lived intermediate in the gas phase. Nevertheless the properties of this important diatomic molecule have been thoroughly investigated by a variety of spectroscopic and other physical techniques (Section 5.2.1). The NS molecule is stabilized by coordination to a transition metal and a large number of complexes, primarily with metals from Groups 6, 7, 8 and 9, are known. Several detailed reviews of the topic have been published. ... 

Seeding technique, procedure 130, 131 Sequential addition of monomers 164, 167 Silicon-carbide fibers 8 Silicon-nitride fibers 8 Silicone rubber, crosslinked 4, 7-9, 31, 67 Siloxane, definition of 5 Siloxane-acrylate copolymers 27, 29, 56, 57, 64, 70, 71, 73, 74... 

Also noted is the rapid expansion of a number of materials produced by CVD, which include copper, tungsten, diamond, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, titanium nitride, and others. The coverage of the chemistry and deposition techniques of these materials has been greatly expanded. 

Wear and corrosion protection can be provided by the well-established techniques of hard-facing and plating or by surface-modification processes such as bonding, nitriding, carburizing, and ion implantation. The protection these processes afford is adequate in most environments but may fail over a period of time if the conditions are too severe. 

Elements dissolved in boron influence its crystal structure. Dissolved impurities also influenee the physical and chemical properties of boron, especially the electrical properties, because boron is a semiconductor. Preparation of solid solutions in jS-rh boron requires a careful choice of crucible material. To avoid contamination, boron nitride or a cold, coinage-metal crucible should be used or the levitation or floating-zone melting techniques applied. 

---