On the chemical vapour deposition of Ti3SiC2 from TiCl4-SiCl4-CH4-H2 gas mixtures

An experimental study of the deposition of Ti₃SiC₂-based ceramics from TiCI₄-SiCI₄-CH₄-H₂ gaseous precursors is carried out under conditions chosen on the basis of a previous thermodynamic approach, i.e. a temperature of 1100°C, a total pressure of 1 7 kPa, various initial compositions and substrates of silicon or carbon. Ti₃SiC₂ is deposited within a narrow composition range and never as a pure phase. A two-step deposition process is observed, in agreement with the thermodynamic calculations. For a silicon substrate, TiSi₂ is formed as an intermediate phase from consumption of Si by TiCI₄ and then is carburized by CH₄ into Ti₃SiC₂. For a carbon substrate, the first step is the formation of TiC_x either from consumption of carbon by TiCI₄ or by reaction between TiCI₄ and CH₄ and then TiC_x reacts with the gaseous mixture to give rise to Ti₃SiC₂. In most cases, Ti₃SiC₂ is obtained as small hexagonal plates oriented perpendicular to the substrate surface. These nano- or micro-crystals are usually co-deposited with TiC_x and to a lesser extent SiC, and their size is increased by increasing the dilution of the gaseous mixture in hydrogen.