Papers by Keyword: Porous SiC

Abstract: Currently, porous SiC ceramics have been a focus of interesting research in the field of porous materials due to their excellent structural properties, high strength, high hardness, and superb mechanical and chemical stabilities even at high temperatures and hostile atmospheres. Porous SiC ceramics have been considered as suitable candidate materials for catalyst supports [1-2], hot gas or molten metal filters [3], high temperature membrane reactors [4], thermal insulating materials [5], gas sensors [6] etc. Porous SiC ceramics are fabricated by various methods including partial sintering [7], carbothermal reduction [8-9], replication or pyrolysis of polymeric sponge [10-12], reaction bonding [13] etc. In all these methods SiC needs to be sintered which requires a very high temperature due to the strong covalent nature of the Si-C bond, selective sintering additives, expensive atmosphere, costly and delicate instrumentation. Processing of porous SiC ceramics at low temperature using a simple technique thus becomes necessary. Bonding of SiC can be done at low temperatures by use of different oxide and non-oxide secondary phases. They include silica, mullite, cordierite, silicon nitride, etc. Various sintering additives are used for the formation of variety of secondary oxide bond phases for formations for porous SiC [14-19] Choice of mullite as a bond for SiC has many advantages. Mullite possesses a high melting point (T_m= 1850°C) and a low oxygen diffusion coefficient (5.6 x 10^-14 m²/sec at 50°C). It has a matching thermal expansion coefficient with SiC (CTE_mullite= 5.3 ×10^-6/K; CTE_SiC = 4.7 ×10^-6/K at RT-1000 °C) and a high strength that can be retained up to a very high temperature. Different sources of aluminum, such as Al₂O₃, Al, AlN, and Al (OH)₃ powders were used for the formation of mullite bonded porous SiC ceramics (MBSC) [20-21]. However, the mullitization temperature of 1550^o C is still necessary. In this work, mullite bonded porous SiC ceramics were fabricated by an in situ reaction-bonding process; the mixture of clay and CaCO₃ were chosen as sintering additives to lower the mullitization reaction between Al₂O₃ and oxidation-derived SiO_2. The effect amount of alumina, sintering temperature and other sintering aids on material property such as porosity/pore size distribution mechanical and micro structural properties of porous oxide bonded SiC ceramics were studied.

Abstract: Porous SiC ceramics with high porosity and high strength were fabricated by gelcasting, with tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as solvent, acrylamide (AM) as monomer, and in-situ reaction bonding with a-Al2O3 as sintering additive. SiC suspension with 10 vol% solid loading was successfully solidified by gel-casting to form high strength green body. The results showed that the compressive strength of the porous SiC ceramics increased with sintering temperature from 1300 to 1450°C, but porosity had little change, due to formation of more volume of cristobalite and mullite phases on the surface of SiC grains, accompanied by a large volume expansion effect. Very narrow single-peak distributions with about 2 mm median pore diameter could be found for the porous SiC ceramics. The porosity and compressive strength of the porous SiC ceramics sintered at 1450°C were 71.21 % and 12.14 MPa, respectively.

Abstract: An effective low-cost technique for rapid characterization of SiC ingots at the early stage of substrate manufacturing process is proposed. The method allows for revealing simultaneously open-micropipes, polytype inclusions, low grain boundary regions, and non-uniform resistivity. The idea of the method is to subject full-size single SiC wafer cut from an ingot to anodization treatment. The porous structure formed as a result of the treatment decorates existing defect regions via the effect of non-homogeneity in the porous structure caused by the defect-related internal stress, as well as by non-uniformity in the doping level across the wafer. The method is inexpensive, not time consuming and not fully destructive. It can also be combined with the standard selective KOH-etching technique.

Abstract: In this paper we present the study of a Schottky diode gas sensing by using porous SiC films with palladium as a catalytic metal. The Schottky diodes were used for the first time for hydrocarbon (C2H6) gas sensing. The properties of the porous SiC films formed by electrochemical method were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrical measurements were made at room temperature (295 K) in different ambient. The effect of the porous surface structure was investigated by evaluating electrical parameters such as the ideality factor (n), barrier height (Bp) and series resistance (Rs). The porous layer significantly affects the electrical properties of the Schottky diodes. Analysis of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics showed that the forward current might be described by a classical thermal emission theory. The ideality factor determined by the I–V characteristics was found to be dependent on the SiC thickness. For a thinner SiC layer (0.16 µm), the electrical parameters n was found around 1.135, 0.7041 eV for a barrier height and 45  for a series resistance, but for a thicker one (1.6 µm) n, Bp and Rs were 1.368, 0.7756 eV and 130 , respectively. The low value of the series resistance obtained using Cheung’s method clearly indicated the high performance of the Schottky diode for thinner SiC layer. This effect showed the uniformity of the SiC layer. Finally, sensitivity around 66 % and selectivity of the sensors were reached by using the PSC layer at low voltages below 0.5 Volt.

Abstract: Columnar porous Si-face 6H-SiC substrates were prepared by a photo-electrochemical etching method and applied as nanoimprint lithography (NIL) stamps. The diameter of the pores in the porous region was about 20 nm and the center-to-center separation between pores was about 60 nm. The columnar porous SiC substrates were subjected to a vapor phase silanization treatment whereby a monolayer of perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (FOTS) was deposited in order to keep the stamps from sticking to the substrates during the imprint step. Subsequently, the porous SiC stamps were used to imprint polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) at elevated temperatures and pressures. The imprinted PMMA could then be used to transfer the nanopattern on the columnar porous SiC to other substrates for various purposes; e.g. templates for GaN regrowth, catalysts for nanowire growth by vapor-liquid-solid type methods (VLS), etc. SiC is not typically used for NIL stamps since etch processing of SiC is less mature than that of Si. However, as demonstrated here, there is no reason why SiC cannot be used as a material for NIL stamps. The superior mechanical properties to Si make the use of SiC alluring as a master template for NIL processing.

Abstract: Wood has strongly anisotropic cellular structure with 50-80 vol% porosity. It can be converted into porous ceramics (e.g., SiC, SiC/Si, TiC, C/C, and TiO2) replicating the wood structure by various processes. Previously porous cellular SiC ceramic was prepared by reaction of wood charcoal with gaseous SiO generated remotely from an equimolar mixture of Si and SiO2. In the present work, poplar charcoal was simply embedded in the powder mixture of Si and SiO2 and heated at 1600°C for 1 h in Ar to produce porous SiC. Samples were also prepared by infiltration of Si melt (1500-1600°C, 2 h) and vapor (1700°C, 2 h) into the charcoal for comparison. Samples prepared by Si melt infiltration showed 15-52% conversion to SiC. Samples prepared by Si vapor infiltration showed severe damage such that the conversion degree could not be measured. In contrast, samples prepared by the embedding process showed full conversion to SiC (mostly β form) with good retention of the cellular structure of the original wood. The embedding process is a simple and efficient way to produce porous cellular SiC from wood.

Abstract: A selective atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) process has been developed to deposit porous polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) thin films containing a high density of through-pores measuring 50 to 70 nm in diameter. The selective deposition process involves the formation of poly-SiC films on patterned SiO2/polysilicon thin film multilayers using a carbonization-based 3C-SiC growth process. This technique capitalizes on significant differences in the nucleation of poly-SiC on SiO2 and polysilicon surfaces in order to form mechanically-durable, chemically-stable, and well anchored porous structures, thus offering a simple and potentially more versatile alternative to direct electrochemical etching.

Abstract: We present relative recovery data for six proteins diffusing through porous silicon carbide membranes having a hybrid columnar/dendritic morphology. These membranes are promising candidates for implantable biosensors. The results are interpreted using an effective medium model.

Abstract: Brillouin spectra have been recorded for a series of supported films of p-type porous 6H-SiC with a branched morphology and porosities in the range from 30% to 58%. Complex spectra comprising up to 7 identifiable components were observed in some cases. An effective medium model is being developed as an aid in interpreting the spectra, and preliminary results are presented.

Abstract: The morphology and atomic structure of 4H-SiC(1102) and 4H-SiC(1102) surfaces, i.e. the surfaces found in the triangular channels of porous 4H-SiC, have been investigated using AFM, LEED and AES. After hydrogen etching the surfaces show steps parallel and perpendicular to the caxis, yet drastically different morphologies for the two isomorphic orientations. Both surfaces immediately display a sharp LEED pattern. Together with the presence of oxygen in the AES spectra this indicates the development of an ordered oxide. Both surfaces show an oxygen free, well ordered surface after Si deposition and annealing.