Micromorphology and structure of pyrolytic boron nitride synthesized by chemical vapor deposition from borazine

Pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) plates were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with temperatures of 900–1900 °C and total pressures of 50–1000 Pa on graphite by using borazine as the precursor. The effects of temperature and pressure on the micromorphology and crystal structure of the PBN were investigated. The as-deposited PBN possessed three typical types of micromorphologies depending on the deposition condition. PBN with dense and laminated structure (Type A) were deposited at temperatures of 1150–1900 °C with relative low pressures of 50–200 Pa, and PBN with porous and isotropic structure (Type C) was deposited at temperatures above 1100 °C with higher pressures above 250 Pa. PBN with dense and glass-like fracture structure (Type B) was obtained at the other range of the deposition condition. The interlayer spacing (d(002)) and the preferred orientation (PO) of the crystallite were calculated by using XRD data of the PBN plates. The degree of the preferred orientation tended to be higher with the increase of temperature and decrease of pressure, and higher temperature led to smaller value of d(002). The crystal growth mechanism of the three types of PBN was discussed.