Particle-precipitation-aided chemical vapor deposition of titanium nitride

Abstract

Particle-precipitation-aided chemical vapor deposition (PP-CVD) is a modification of the conventional CVD process, where an aerosol is formed in the gas phase and particles are deposited on a substrate. The driving force for particle deposition is thermophoresis. The synthesis of titanium nitride (TiN) has been studied. TiN is formed on the substrate, as well as in the gas phase. At low temperature differences, only dense microstructures with equiaxed grains are observed; porous coherent layers are found in experiments where larger temperature differences are applied. Additional increase in the temperature difference only leads to loose powder deposits. In principle, the PP-CVD process is a suitable method for the synthesis of thin porous layers of ceramics.