Funds are provided for Cornell University to install a Chemical- Vapor-Deposition (CVD) system for the growth of multilayer, multiphase metal and ceramic thin films. The CVD system will be used to fabricate multilayer films with an A/B/A/B architecture on the scale of a few nm, where A and B are different materials. These multilayer films will be incorporated into fiber reinforced composites in order to control the shear and the tensile properties, and the high temperature corrosion resistance of interfaces. Thin films from carbon (graphite or diamond), alumina, zirconia, silicon- carbide, silica, platinum and chromium will be synthesized. These components can be used to construct multilayer interfaces that are compatible with a variety of ceramic fibers (carbon, silicon carbide, titanium boride or alumina) and with matrix materials that include metals, intermetallics, and ceramics. The CVD facility ultimately will be utilized to prepare thin films of single crystal ceramic materials, beginning with such simple materials as nickel oxide and zirconia, and leading to the synthesis of single crystal films of multicomponent ceramics such as tuned ferroelectrics with giant electro-optic coefficients and high Tc superconductors. The ability to synthesize single crystal ceramic films will measurably enhance the capability to understand the structure of ceramic and metal- ceramic interfaces.
