Structural properties of amorphous metal carbides : Theory and experiment

• By means of theoretical modeling and experimental synthesis and characterization, we investigate the structural properties of amorphous Zr-Si-C. Two chemical compositions are selected: Zr0.31Si0.29C0.40 and Zr0.60Si0.33C0.07. Amorphous structures are generated in the theoretical part of our work by the stochastic quenching (SQ) method, and detailed comparison is made regarding the structure and density of the experimentally synthesized films. These films are analyzed experimentally using X-ray absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Our results demonstrate a remarkable agreement between theory and experiment concerning bond distances and atomic coordination of this complex amorphous metal carbide. The demonstrated power of the SQ method opens up avenues for theoretical predictions of amorphous materials in general.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Oorganisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Inorganic Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Amorphous materials

Ab initio calculations

X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Metal carbide glasses

Atomic structure

Kemi med inriktning mot oorganisk kemi

Chemistry with specialization in Inorganic Chemistry

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)