Conversion Efficiency of Alkoxide Precursor to Oxide Films Grown by an Ultrasonic‐Assisted, Pulsed Liquid Injection, Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (Pulsed‐CVD) Process

Polycrystalline coatings of an oxide, with a columnar grain morphology, were grown on metal substrates from metal-organic precursors using the pulsed-CVD process. In a model study, films of the rutile phase of titanium dioxide were grown on nickel by thermal decomposition of titanium isopropoxide. Growth rates of up to 0.3 μm/min were obtained with conversion efficiencies (mole oxide per mole precursor) approaching 100%. The high growth rates and conversion efficiencies portend the application of this method for the manufacture of films and coatings on large surface areas, as, for example, required in the deposition of zirconium dioxide on nickel-based superalloys to serve as thermal barrier coatings on turbine blades.