Abstract The effect of thermal treatment on zirconium carbide (ZrC) layers deposited by chemical vapour deposition process was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, nanoindention and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The ZrC layers deposited at 1400 °C (composed of 96% ZrC and 4% C) were annealed at 1500, 1600, 1700 and 1800 °C for 2 h under high vacuum of 2.6 × 10−7 mbar. After annealing, the lattice constant and the average crystallite sizes were found to increase whereas the lattice strain and dislocation density decreased. The preferred orientation of the as-deposited layers was (220); it changed to (200) when annealed at 1500 °C and 1600 °C. At annealing temperature of 1700 °C and 1800 °C, the preferred orientation was (220) just like for the as-deposited ZrC layers. From Raman spectroscopy analysis, the ID/IG ratio reduced from 0.694 to 0.414 with annealing temperature indicating an improvement in crystallinity level and a decrease in the defects in the carbon material in the ZrC layers. The hardness of the layers was found to decrease slightly with annealing temperature from 26.4 ± 0.6 GPa to 21.3 ± 0.5 GPa. Some voids initially present in the as-deposited ZrC layers closed up and particles increased in size with annealing temperature.

中文翻译：

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研究化学气相沉积碳化锆层的热稳定性

摘要 使用 X 射线衍射 (XRD)、拉曼光谱、纳米压痕和扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 研究了热处理对化学气相沉积工艺沉积的碳化锆 (ZrC) 层的影响。在 1400 °C 下沉积的 ZrC 层（由 96% ZrC 和 4% C 组成）在 1500、1600、1700 和 1800 °C 下在 2.6 × 10−7 mbar 的高真空下退火 2 小时。退火后，发现晶格常数和平均微晶尺寸增加，而晶格应变和位错密度降低。沉积层的优选取向是（220）；在 1500 ℃和 1600 ℃下退火时变为 (200)。在 1700 °C 和 1800 °C 的退火温度下，优选取向是 (220)，就像沉积的 ZrC 层一样。从拉曼光谱分析，ID/IG 比从 0.694 降低到 0.414，退火温度表明结晶度水平提高和 ZrC 层中碳材料中的缺陷减少。发现层的硬度随着退火温度从 26.4 ± 0.6 GPa 到 21.3 ± 0.5 GPa 略有下降。最初存在于沉积态 ZrC 层中的一些空隙闭合，颗粒尺寸随着退火温度的增加而增加。