Silicon Carbide Coating by Thermal Decomposition of tetramethylsilane

Silicon carbide coating has been studied using a graphite substrate, a mixture of tetramethylsilane and hydrogen or argon at deposition temperature (T) of 950 to $1200^{\circ}C$ total pressure of 20 to 50 torr and carrier gas flow rate of 0 to 901/h. Deposition kinetic study has shown that a transition, from a surface reaction limited process to a diffusion limited one, takes place near $1100^{\circ}C$. Deposition rate depends directly upon the experimental parameters. The influence of the main process parameters is also discussed to relate the physiochemical properties of the coating to the deposition conditions.