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Deposition and characterization of silicon carbide coatings deposited on stainless steel by the technique of ablation laser

Abstract:

Silicon carbide is an important material for industrial applications. Silicon carbide has a height strength, extremes hardness, and excellent wear resistance; but also has very good resistance to oxidation and corrosion, and height thermal stability. These properties are mainly due to the covalent bonds between Si and C atoms and to the tetrahedral coordination between them. The enhancement of the surface properties is an area of constant study and interest. We used Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA) to deposit a thin film of SiC on the stainless steel surface. The purpose of this work was the enhancement of the surface properties of stainless steel AISI 316L. The ablation of the target material is carry out by an excimer laser with a wave length of 248 nm, 54 mJ/pulse and frequency of pulse repetition between 0 and 40 Hz with pulse width of 25 ns. The thin films were characterized using x-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Disperse X-ray (EDX) and vicker micro hardness. The diffraction pattern of the deposited films is in agreement with the pattern of SiC (politipo 6H). The Raman spectroscopy results are in accord with the x-ray results. Secondary-electron images of SiC thin films show a homogeneous film, very well conformed with a thick of ∼0,16 μm. The vicker hardness of the films is around ∼2000 Hv. EDX analysis suggests the present of three phases in the as deposited material: SiC, C and Si. These results were confirmed with backscattering-electron images.