A Unique Beryllium Carbide Thin Film: Synthesis, Chemical, and Thermal Characterizations

Plasma-deposited coatings containing beryllium in excess of 50 atomic percent and oxygen content <5 atomic percent would meet the requirements for the outermost coating, the outer ablator of the multilayered microsphere for inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Films containing a Be₂C composite with Be contents as high as 75 atomic percent (O < 2 atomic percent) have been deposited on a variety of substrates via magnetron sputtering of Be into a methane/argon plasma. The elemental composition was controlled by adjusting the methane/Ar flow rate ratio during the deposition process. The films were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), neutron diffraction (ND), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermogrravimetric analysis (TGA).