| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/H96614/01 |
| Title: |
THE FABRICATION PROCESSES AND EVALUATION OF CARBON NITRIDE THIN FILMS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Somekh, Dr R |
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| Department: |
Materials Science & Metallurgy |
| Organisation: |
University of Cambridge |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 November 1993 |
Ends: |
31 October 1994 |
Value (£): |
44,504
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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There has been a recent suggestion that C-N grown with a Si3N4 structure should have a hardness comparable to or greater than diamond. The films produced so far in the USA are deficient in their nitrogen content but claims are made that they are indeed potentially very hard. This proposal is to study the sputter process variables required to make hard C-N films. Plasma activation takes advantage of both physical and chemical processes. For example the depositing atoms may have increased kinetic energy or may be in some active state (in an atomic form or internally excited). We propose to compare the films produced in a conventional reactive magnetron sputter deposition system (both balanced and unbalanced) to make films in which additionally nitrogen is injected from an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) source which is known to produce significant amounts of active species. After an initial series of comparative studies an optimisation procedure will be adopted to produce films which have good mechanical properties and can be formed reproducibly on a variety of substrates. There is already considerable interest in carbon based films for hard coating applications such as enhanced wear-resistance on plastics and other substrates and carbon nitride formation will further extend this potential.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.cam.ac.uk |