Superhard Novel Ternary B-C-N Materials using Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

Diamond is the hardest known material but is limited by high cost and is prone to oxidation at temperatures above 800 °C which make it unaffordable and unfavorable for many applications. Materials based on the light elements of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and boron can form short covalent bonds, making the structures superhard and difficult to compress or distort. Due to the vast phase space of possible element combinations, it remains challenging to explore new superhard ternary materials. In this work, Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (MPCVD) has been used to synthesize superhard novel ternary B-C-N coatings on silicon substrates. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy confirm the B-C, C-N, and B-N bonding in the synthesized coating. Rietveld refinement of the experimental X-ray diffraction pattern was performed using the recently invented theoretically predicted novel BC₁₀N structure by our group, and it agrees with the experimental data. BC₁₀N can be a better choice for extreme environments, space missions, medical applications, ballistic armor, cutting tools, high-temperature electronics, MEMS applications, and many more for its superior properties.