Laser chemical vapor deposition

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Laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) is a chemical process used to produce high purity, high performance films, fibers, and mechanical hardware (MEMS). It is a form of chemical vapor deposition in which a laser beam is used to locally heat the semiconductor substrate, causing the vapor deposition chemical reaction to proceed faster at that site. [1] The process is used in the semiconductor industry for spot coating, [2] the MEMS industry for 3-D printing of hardware such as springs and heating elements,2,6,7,9 and the composites industry for boron and ceramic fibers. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] As with conventional CVD, one or more gas phase precursors are thermally decomposed, and the resulting chemical species 1) deposit on a surface, or 2) react, form the desired compound, and then deposit on a surface, or a combination of (1) and (2). [10] [11] [12]

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Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula BN. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexagonal form corresponding to graphite is the most stable and soft among BN polymorphs, and is therefore used as a lubricant and an additive to cosmetic products. The cubic variety analogous to diamond is called c-BN; it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior. The rare wurtzite BN modification is similar to lonsdaleite but slightly softer than the cubic form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boron</span> Chemical element, symbol B and atomic number 5

Boron is a chemical element; it has symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the boron group it has three valence electrons for forming covalent bonds, resulting in many compounds such as boric acid, the mineral sodium borate, and the ultra-hard crystals of boron carbide and boron nitride.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical vapor deposition</span> Method used to apply surface coatings

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MEMS</span> Very small devices that incorporate moving components

MEMS is the technology of microscopic devices incorporating both electronic and moving parts. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometres in size, and MEMS devices generally range in size from 20 micrometres to a millimetre, although components arranged in arrays can be more than 1000 mm2. They usually consist of a central unit that processes data and several components that interact with the surroundings.

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Silicon nitride is a chemical compound of the elements silicon and nitrogen. Si
3
N
4
is the most thermodynamically stable and commercially important of the silicon nitrides, and the term ″Silicon nitride″ commonly refers to this specific composition. It is a white, high-melting-point solid that is relatively chemically inert, being attacked by dilute HF and hot H
3
PO
4
. It is very hard. It has a high thermal stability with strong optical nonlinearities for all-optical applications.

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Vacuum deposition is a group of processes used to deposit layers of material atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule on a solid surface. These processes operate at pressures well below atmospheric pressure. The deposited layers can range from a thickness of one atom up to millimeters, forming freestanding structures. Multiple layers of different materials can be used, for example to form optical coatings. The process can be qualified based on the vapor source; physical vapor deposition uses a liquid or solid source and chemical vapor deposition uses a chemical vapor.

Chemical vapour infiltration (CVI) is a ceramic engineering process whereby matrix material is infiltrated into fibrous preforms by the use of reactive gases at elevated temperature to form fiber-reinforced composites. The earliest use of CVI was the infiltration of fibrous alumina with chromium carbide. CVI can be applied to the production of carbon-carbon composites and ceramic-matrix composites. A similar technique is chemical vapour deposition (CVD), the main difference being that the deposition of CVD is on hot bulk surfaces, while CVI deposition is on porous substrates.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid</span> State of matter

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The vapor–liquid–solid method (VLS) is a mechanism for the growth of one-dimensional structures, such as nanowires, from chemical vapor deposition. The growth of a crystal through direct adsorption of a gas phase on to a solid surface is generally very slow. The VLS mechanism circumvents this by introducing a catalytic liquid alloy phase which can rapidly adsorb a vapor to supersaturation levels, and from which crystal growth can subsequently occur from nucleated seeds at the liquid–solid interface. The physical characteristics of nanowires grown in this manner depend, in a controllable way, upon the size and physical properties of the liquid alloy.

Ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are a type of refractory ceramics that can withstand extremely high temperatures without degrading, often above 2,000 °C. They also often have high thermal conductivities and are highly resistant to thermal shock, meaning they can withstand sudden and extreme changes in temperature without cracking or breaking. Chemically, they are usually borides, carbides, nitrides, and oxides of early transition metals.

Boron fiber or boron filament is an amorphous product which represents the major industrial use of elemental boron. Boron fiber manifests a combination of high strength and high elastic modulus.

Silicon carbide fibers are fibers ranging from 5 to 150 micrometres in diameter and composed primarily of silicon carbide molecules. Depending on manufacturing process, they may have some excess silicon or carbon, or have a small amount of oxygen. Relative to organic fibers and some ceramic fibers, silicon carbide fibers have high stiffness, high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. (refs) These properties have made silicon carbide fiber the choice for hot section components in the next generation of gas turbines, e.g. the LEAP engine from GE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert Daniel Nessim</span> Israeli chemistry professor (born 1966)

Gilbert Daniel Nessim is a chemistry professor at Bar-Ilan University specializing in the synthesis of 1D and 2D nanomaterials for electronic, mechanic, and energy applications.

References

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  2. Method and Apparatus For the Freeform Growth of Three-Dimensional Structures Using Pressurized Precursor Flows and Growth Rate Control (US Patent # 5,786,023)
  3. Laser Assisted Fiber Growth (US Patent # 5,126,200)
  4. T. Wallenberger, Frederick & C. Nordine, Paul & Boman, Mats. (1994). “Inorganic fibers and microstructures directly from the vapor phase”. Composites Science and Technology v 51. pp. 193-212.
  5. T. Wallenberger, Frederick & C. Nordine, Paul. (1994). “Amorphous Silicon Nitride Fibers Grown from the Vapor Phase”. Journal of Materials Research v 9. pp. 527 - 530.
  6. Laser-assisted CVD Fabrication and Characterization of Carbon and Tungsten Microhelices for Microthrusters, Uppsala University, 2006, Dissertation, K.L. Williams
  7. Björklund, K.L & Lu, Jun & Heszler, P & Boman, Mats. (2002). “Kinetics, thermodynamics and microstructure of tungsten rods grown by thermal laser CVD”. Thin Solid Films v 416. pp. 41–48.
  8. Boman, Mats & Baeuerle, Dieter. (1995). “Laser‐Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition of Boron”. Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society v 42.
  9. S. Harrison, J. Pegna, J. Schneiter, K.L. Williams, and R. Goduguchinta, (2017) “Laser Printed Ceramic Fiber Ribbons: Properties and Applications,” 2016 ICACC Proceedings/Ceramic Materials for Energy Applications VI, pp. 61-72
  10. Maxwell, James & Chavez, Craig & W. Springer, Robert & Maskaly, Karlene & Goodin, Dan. (2007). “Preparation of superhard BxCy fibers by microvortex-flow hyperbaric laser chemical vapor deposition”, Diamond and Related Materials v 16. pp. 1557-1564.
  11. Williams, K.L. & Jonsson, K & Köhler, Johan & Boman, Mats. (2007). “Electrothermal characterization of tungsten-coated carbon microcoils for micropropulsion systems”. Carbon v 45. pp. 484-492.
  12. Maxwell, James & Boman, Mats & W Springer, Robert & Narayan, Jaikumar & Gnanavelu, Saiprasanna. (2006). “Hyperbaric Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition of Carbon Fibers from the 1-Alkenes, 1-Alkynes, and Benzene”. Journal of the American Chemical Society v 128. pp. 4405-4413.