Characterization of the evaporation behavior of a β-SiC target during electron beam-physical vapor deposition

β-SiC is a promising multi-function protective coating material, but rarely prepared by evaporation technology, because the evaporation behavior of β-SiC is quite difficult to characterize due to its decomposition during evaporation. In this paper, the evaporation behavior of β-SiC evaporated by electron beam was investigated. After evaporation, the residual β-SiC target was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the results showed that β-SiC target could be divided into three zones: molten pool zone, heat-affected zone and unaffected zone. In molten pool zone, an intense β-SiC (3 1 1) preferred orientation occurred and a small quantity of diamond-like carbon covered its surface. In the heat-affected zone, β-SiC grains were observed to grow upward slightly. The cross-section of the resulting coating deposited on stainless steel (SS) substrate was also examined by electron probe microanalysis, and the results showed that the concentration of Si is higher than that of C near the substrate.