Characterization of structures and properties of amorphous nanostructured SiC thin films deposited on AISI 304 stainless steel using pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Amorphous nanostructure silicon carbide (a-SiC) recently received great attention for its use as protective coating for metallic substrates due to its good mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. In this article, a-SiC thin films were deposited on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates at room temperature for deposition times of 4 and 6 h using pulsed laser deposition technique. The deposition process was stopped every 2 h then resumed for an hour. The effect of interval time during deposition process and substrate type on the properties of the produced films was extensively investigated. The morphological features of the deposited SiC films were investigated using field-emission scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. The film structures were determined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray. The mechanical and tribological properties, such as Young’s modulus, hardness and scratch resistance, were determined using nanoindenter. The results showed the formation of uniform monocrystalline nanostructured Si interface between two a-SiC layers after the 2 h of no-deposition time intervals. The formation of crystalline Si interface attributed to the effect of high kinetic energy of the incoming ablated particles deposited on the grown a-SiC layers. The a-SiC films were amorphous having nanostructure grains with dimensions ≤ 100 nm. All films showed smooth surfaces with fine cracks due to the presence of intrinsic stresses. The deposited films showed low mechanical properties due to their amorphous structures.

Casting and Laser Surface Melting of 316L Stainless Steel from Scrap Resources

“…Numerous surface modification techniques have been developed such as thermal spray, induction hardening, pulsed laser deposition and laser cladding to improve the surface properties of stainless steel alloys without changing their bulk properties [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. These techniques greatly improve the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties through grain refining or coating of ceramics protective layers [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Recently, more attention has been given to nanostructured surfaces [8,[10][11][12][13] to improve the properties of stainless steels.…”

“…These techniques greatly improve the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties through grain refining or coating of ceramics protective layers [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Recently, more attention has been given to nanostructured surfaces [8,[10][11][12][13] to improve the properties of stainless steels. [8,[10][11][12][13].…”

“…Recently, more attention has been given to nanostructured surfaces [8,[10][11][12][13] to improve the properties of stainless steels. [8,[10][11][12][13]. However, these techniques have certain limitations such as less flexibility, high energy consumption, distortion of work peace and sometimes long pre-preparation procedures.…”