Homoepitaxial growth of Ti–Si–C MAX-phase thin films on bulk Ti3SiC2 substrates

Ti3SiC2 films were grown on polycrystalline Ti3SiC2 bulk substrates using DC magnetron sputtering. The crystallographic orientation of the film grains is shown to be determined by the respective substrate-grain orientation through homoepitaxial MAX-phase growth. For a film composition close to Ti:Si:C=3:1:2, the films predominantly consist of MAX phases, both Ti3SiC2 and the metastable Ti4SiC3. Lower Si content resulted in growth of TiC with Ti3SiC2 as a minority phase. Thus, MAX-phase heterostructures with preferred crystallographic relationships can also be realized.