Deposition of Zr(C,N) Coatings by Chemical Vapour Deposition

Sammanfattning: In this master thesis the influence from process parameters within the Chemical vapour deposition process for a Zirconium Carbon-Nitride coating was investigated regarding growth rate, microstructure and texture. The interest in utilizing Zirconium Carbon-Nitride (Zr(C,N)) is due to its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) relative the currently commonly used wear resistant coatings of Titanium-Carbon-Nitride (Ti(C,N)). The process parameters studied in this work is the ratio of the partial pressures of Zirconium tetrachloride over Acetonitrile (ZrCl4/CH3CN), addition of Nitrogen respectively hydrochloric acid, partial pressures of the precursors, reactor temperature and total gas flow. By controlling these process parameters one can control the grain size, growth rate within the reactor and texture of the Zr(C,N) coating deposited.