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At least 91 records · Page 5

Calculation of residual principal stresses in CVD boron on carbon filaments

A three-dimensional finite element model of the chemical vapor deposition of boron on a carbon substrate (B/C) is developed. The model includes an expansion of the boron after deposition due to atomic rearrangement and includes creep of the boron and carbon. Curves are presented showing the variation of the principal residual stresses and the filament elongation with the parameters defining deposition strain and creep. The calculated results are compared with experimental axial residual stress and elongation measurements made on B/C filaments. For good agreement between calculated and experimental results, the deposited boron must continue to expand after deposition, and the build up of residual stresses must be limited by significant boron and carbon creep rates.

Behrendt, D. R.↗

CVD-produced boron filaments

A technique for producing boron filaments with an average tensile strength of 6.89 GPa has been developed which involves longitudinal splitting of the filament and core (substrate) removal by etching. Splitting is accomplished by a pinch wheel device which continuously splits filaments in lengths of 3.0 m by applying a force to the side of the filament to create a crack which is then propagated along the axis by a gentle sliding action. To facilitate the splitting, a single 10 mil tungsten substrate is used instead of the usual 0.5 mil substrate. A solution of hot 30% hydrogen peroxide is used to remove the core without attacking the boron. An alternative technique is to alter the residual stress by heavily etching the filament. Average strengths in the 4.83-5.52 GPa range have been obtained by etching an 8 mil filament to 4 mil.

Wawner, F. E.↗

Plasma-enhanced CVD silicon nitride antireflection coatings for solar cells

Multilayer plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride antireflection coatings were deposited on space quality silicon solar cells. Preliminary experiments indicated that multilayer coatings decreased the total reflectance of polished silicon from 35 percent to less than 3 percent over the spectral range 0.4-1.0 micron. The solar cell energy conversion efficiency was increased from an average of 8.84 percent to an average of 12.63 percent.

Johnson, C. C.↗

High-efficiency solar cells fabricated by vacuum MO-CVD

High-efficiency, monolithic, two-color, three-terminal solar cells were fabricated by a novel growth technique, vacuum metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The technique uses the expensive metal alkyls efficiently and toxic gases sparingly. The fact that the outer chamber is constructed of nonbreakable stainless steel is an attractive safety feature associated with this deposition system.

Fraas, L. M.↗

TEM investigation of beta-SiC grown epitaxially on Si substrate by CVD

A transmission electron microscopy study is being conducted on the microstructure of beta-SiC films grown epitaxially on 001-plane silicon by chemical vapor deposition. Observations have been made in plain view and in cross-section. A high density of stacking faults has been found in the bulk of the epilayer which are bounded by partials of the Shockley type with Burgers vectors 1/6 211-line. Cross-sectional high resolution electron microscopy of the interface has shown it to be semicoherent with misfit dislocations to accommodate the lattice parameter difference between the substrate and the epilayer. In addition to misfit dislocations, a high density of twins and some stacking faults are present in the SiC near the interface. Mechanisms for the nucleation and growth of these defects are discussed.

Chorey, C. M.↗

Laboratory studies of binary salt CVD in combustion gas environments

A flash-evaporation technique is used to obtain vapor deposition characteristics for the binary alkali sulfates K2SO4 + Na2SO4 at 1 atm above 1100 K. The experimental equipment and techniques are described, and preliminary results are reported which indicate that this experimental technique meets most of the research requirements for studying multicomponent systems of current interest. The various deposition rate effects of introducing additives and the relevant inferences of condensate composition are presented, and the theoretical implications are discussed. It is concluded that alkali sulfate deposition and vaporization in combustion environments are inevitably influenced by chemical reactions such as hydroxide formation, and that solution nonideality is important even for homologous alkali-salt mixtures.

Liang, Baishen↗

Advances in silicon carbide Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) for semiconductor device fabrication

Improved SiC chemical vapor deposition films of both 3C and 6H polytypes were grown on vicinal (0001) 6H-SiC wafers cut from single-crystal boules. These films were produced from silane and propane in hydrogen at one atmosphere at a temperature of 1725 K. Among the more important factors which affected the structure and morphology of the grown films were the tilt angle of the substrate, the polarity of the growth surface, and the pregrowth surface treatment of the substrate. With proper pregrowth surface treatment, 6H films were grown on 6H substrates with tilt angles as small as 0.1 degrees. In addition, 3C could be induced to grow within selected regions on a 6H substrate. The polarity of the substrate was a large factor in the incorporation of dopants during epitaxial growth. A new growth model is discussed which explains the control of SiC polytype in epitaxial growth on vicinal (0001) SiC substrates.

Powell, J. Anthony↗

Microstructural and strength stability of CVD SiC fibers in argon environment

The room temperature tensile strength and microstructure of three types of commercially available chemically vapor deposited silicon carbide fibers were measured after 1, 10, and 100 hour heat treatments under argon pressures of 0.1 to 310 MPa at temperatures to 2100 C. Two types of fiber had carbon-rich surface coatings and the other contained no coating. All three fiber types showed strength degradation beyond 1400 C. Time and temperature of exposure had greater influence on strength degradation than argon pressure. Recrystallization and growth of near stoichiometric SiC grains appears to be the dominant mechanism for the strength degradation.

Bhatt, Ramakrishna T.↗

Microstructural and strength stability of CVD SiC fibers in argon environments

The room temperature tensile strength and microstructure of three types of commercially available chemically vapor deposited silicon carbide fibers were measured after 1, 10, and 100 hour heat treatments under argon pressures of 0.1 to 310 MPa at temperatures to 2100 C. Two types of fiber had carbon-rich surface coatings and the other contained no coating. All three fiber types showed strength degradation beyond 1400 C. Time and temperature of exposure had greater influence on strength degradation than argon pressure. Recrystallization and growth of near stoichiometric SiC grains appears to be the dominant mechanism for the strength degradation.

Bhatt, Ramakrishna T.↗

Properties of novel CVD graphite fibers and their bromine intercalation compounds

A hybrid fiber with a PAN core surrounded by a vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) sheath was fabricated using a proprietary process. The density, ultimate tensile strength, Young's modulus, and resistivity of pristine and bromine intercalated fibers made by this technique having diameters varying from 5 to 50 microns were compared with the values predicted from the rule of mixtures model. For both the pristine and intercalated fibers, the density, ultimate tensile strength, and Young's modulus of the fibers were lower than predicted, but the resistivity was measured to be consistent with predictions. The lower than theoretical mechanical properties may be evidence of a low density disordered interface between the core and the sheath which would lower the density and degrade the mechanical properties, but would leave the resistivity nearly unaffected. Intercalation had little if any effect on the ultimate tensile strength and Young's modulus, but raised the density by about 11 pct., and lowered the resistivity by an order of magnitude. The diameter dependence of the resistivity showed evidence of a depletion layer of the type found in VGCF.

Gaier, James R.↗

Flow effects in a vertical CVD reactor

A model is presented to simulate the non-Boussinesq flow in a vertical, two-dimensional, chemical vapor deposition reactor under atmospheric pressure. Temperature-dependent conductivity, mass diffusivity, viscosity models, and reactive species mass transfer to the substrate are incorporated. In the limits of small Mach number and small aspect ratio, asymptotic expressions for the flow, temperature, and species fields are developed. Soret diffusion effects are also investigated. Analytical solutions predict an inverse relationship between temperature field and concentration field due to Soret effects. This finding is consistent with numerical simulations, assisting in the understanding of the complex interactions amongst the flow, thermal, and species fields in a chemically reacting system.

Young, G. W.↗

Site-Competition Epitaxy for N-Type and P-Type Dopant Control in CVD Sic Epilayers

The use of site-competition epitaxy, which is based on intentional variation of the Si/C ratio during epitaxy, has now been reproduced in numerous national and international laboratories. However, previous reports have only considered dopant incorporation control for epitaxy on the Si-face 6H-SiC(OOO1) substrates. Presented in this paper is the extension of this technique for control of phosphorous incorporation and also a comparison of controlled doping on C-face 6H-SiC(OOO1) versus Si-face 6H-SiC(OOO1) substrates for aluminum, boron, nitrogen, and phosphorous.

Larkin, D. J.↗

Process-Induced Morphological Defects in Epitaxial CVD Silicon Carbide

Silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor technology has been advancing rapidly, but there are numerous crystal growth problems that need to be solved before SiC can reach its full potential. Among these problems is a need for an improvement in the surface morphology of epitaxial films that are grown to produce device structures. Various processes before and during epilayer growth lead to the formation of morphological defects observed in SiC epilayers grown on SiC substrates. In studies of both 6H and 4H-SiC epilayers, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and other techniques have been used to characterize SiC epilayer surface morphology. In addition to the well-known micropipe defect, SiC epilayers contain growth pits, triangular features (primarily) in 4H-SiC, and macro step due to step bunching. In work at NASA Lewis, it has been found that factors contributing to the formation of some morphological defects include: defects in the substrate bulk, defects in the substrate surface caused by cutting and polishing the wafer, the tilt angle of the wafer surface relative to the basal plane, and growth conditions. Some of these findings confirm results of other research groups. This paper presents a review of published and unpublished investigations into processes that are relevant to epitaxial film morphology.

Powell, J. A.↗

Growth Orientation of Carbon Nanotubes by Thermal CVD

Carbon nanotubes with a few shells are synthesized using thermal chemical vapor depositions. The sizes of these carbon nanotubes (CNT) are quite uniform and the length is up to several tens of micrometers. With the particular substrate location for which the substrate surface is normal along or against the gravity vector, different growth orientations of CNT are observed by scanning electron microscopy, though the Raman spectra for samples at different locations are similar to each other. The results suggest the gravitation effects in growth of the long and small diameter CNT.

Zhu, S.↗

Carbon Nanotubes by CVD and Applications

Carbon nanotube (CNT) exhibits extraordinary mechanical and unique electronic properties and offers significant potential for structural, sensor, and nanoelectronics applications. An overview of CNT, growth methods, properties and applications is provided. Single-wall, and multi-wall CNTs have been grown by chemical vapor deposition. Catalyst development and optimization has been accomplished using combinatorial optimization methods. CNT has also been grown from the tips of silicon cantilevers for use in atomic force microscopy.

Cassell, Alan↗

Plasma CVD of Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes(CNT) exhibit remarkable mechanical and unique electronic properties and thus have created excitement in the research community about their potential in electronics, computing, sensor and structural applications. Realization of these applications critically depends on the ability to control the properties(such as diameter, chirality) as well purity. We have investigated CNT growth using an inductively coupled plasma(ICP) process using hydrocarbon feedstock. The catalyst required for nanotube growth consists of thin sputtered layers of aluminum and iron(10 nm each) and aligned carbon nanotubes have been obtained. Optical emission diagnostics as well as a plasma modeling effort have been undertaken to understand growth mechanisms. This presentation will discuss growth characteristics under various pressure, power and feedgas compositions and our understanding from modeling and diagnostics.

Delzeit, Lance↗