Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of nitrides on fluidized particles

A new plasma jet fluidized bed reactor working at atmospheric pressure is presented. The plasma arc is created inside the bed of particles in order to improve the reactivity between excited gaseous species and the particles to be coated. Metal chlorides, nitrogen and hydrogen were used as precursors of deposited layers. TiN, Si3N4 and SiOx coatings were deposited on silica and corundum particles by this plasma-assisted CVD process. Optical emission spectroscopy and electron microanalysis characterized the plasma and the layer composition, respectively.