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In Situ TEM Studies of Metal–Carbon Reactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2003

Robert Sinclair ,
Toshio Itoh  and
Richard Chin
Robert Sinclair
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 416 Escondido Mall, Building 550, Stanford, CA 94305-2205, USA
Toshio Itoh
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 416 Escondido Mall, Building 550, Stanford, CA 94305-2205, USA Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, USA
Richard Chin
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 416 Escondido Mall, Building 550, Stanford, CA 94305-2205, USA
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Abstract

The reactions which occur between amorphous carbon and a number of first transition metals (Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) have been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The materials are in thin-film form with the metal layer sandwiched between thicker carbon layers. In four cases, the predominant reaction is the graphitization of the amorphous carbon, at temperatures well below 800°C. This is brought about by the elements themselves in the case of Co and Ni, and by metastable carbides in the case of Fe (Fe3C) and Cr (Cr3C2−x). The Ti–C and Cu–C systems do not exhibit graphitization. For the former, only TiC is produced up to 1000°C, while the carbon does not react at all with copper. In situ TEM studies show the mechanism to be of the dissolution-precipitation type, which is equivalent to the metal-mediated crystallization process for amorphous silicon and germanium. The heat of graphitization is found to be 18–19 kcal/mol-C by differential scanning calorimetry.

Keywords

In situ transmission electron microscopymetal–carbon reactionsgraphitization of carbonnickel–carbon systemiron–carbon systemchromium–carbon system
Type
A SYMPOSIUM IN HONOR OF PROFESSOR GARETH THOMAS
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , August 2002 , pp. 288 - 304
Copyright
2002 Microscopy Society of America

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