Preparation of zirconium carbonitride by laser chemical vapor deposition using alkyl-amide precursor as a single source

The vapor-phase growth of zirconium carbonitride (ZrCN) on carbon substrates was demonstrated by laser chemical vapor deposition using an alkyl-amide precursor as a single source. The effects of deposition temperatures on the phase formation, microstructure, chemical bonding states, and deposition rates of ZrCN layers were investigated. An amorphous layer with a large amount of oxygen impurity was deposited at a temperature of 1373 K, whereas a crystalline ZrCN phase with a face-centered cubic structure (fcc-ZrCN) was formed with an excess amount of free carbon at a deposition temperatures of 1453 K. The fcc-ZrCN layer had cone-like nodular morphology with a dense cross section, where the dendritic microstructure comprising nano-sized ZrCN grains with finely dispersed carbon was formed in the fcc-ZrCN layer at 1453 K. The deposition rate of the fcc-ZrCN layer was 40 µm h−1.