Effect of deposition time on growth of ZrC/SiC composite coating synthesized by low pressure chemical vapor deposition

Present work synthesized ZrC/SiC composite coating on the silicon substrate from ZrCl 4 -CH 4 -H 2 -Ar system by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). The significant effect of deposition time on the growth of ZrC/SiC composite coating, phase composition, microstructure and surface roughness was investigated. Only SiC phase was deposited when the deposition time reached 1 h. With the increase of deposition time, the atomic percentage of Si element decreased, Zr element increased significantly, at the same time, the order structure of sp 2 carbon improved. A uniform and compact ZrC/SiC composite coating was prepared at 1400 °C for the 4 h deposition time. The growth mechanism of ZrC/SiC composite coating at different deposition time was described in detail.