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On the discrepancies between the experimental realization and the thermodynamic predictions of stability of rhombohedral boron nitride

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Abstract

Equilibrium thermodynamic calculations were performed to generate diagrams indicating the phase fields wherein either hexagonal or rhombohedral films of boron nitride can be deposited via chemical vapor deposition as a function of temperature, choice of B-source, and N/B ratio derived from NH3 and the B-source. Similar diagrams calculated using experimental conditions employed by groups who have synthesized r-BN films revealed that both in experiment and equilibrium, the choice of B-source strongly affects the size of the single-phase field for r-BN and, in general, deposition of r-BN can be realized at temperatures more than 100°C below that predicted by equilibria.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. The thermodynamic information for all species other than h-BN (s) and r-BN (s) is contained within the FactPS thermodynamic database, native to FactSage computational software.[27]

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this work was made possible thanks to the National GEM Consortium Fellowship, the Neil and Jo Bushnell Fellowship in Engineering, and the John and Claire Bertucci Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Philip M. Jean-Remy & Robert F. Davis

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Robert F. Davis

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Correspondence to Philip M. Jean-Remy.

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Jean-Remy, P.M., Davis, R.F. On the discrepancies between the experimental realization and the thermodynamic predictions of stability of rhombohedral boron nitride. MRS Communications 11, 451–456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-021-00053-9

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