AN INVESTIGATION INTO MICROSTRUCTURE AND PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION OF NI-P DIAMOND COMPOSITE THIN-FILMS/

The present paper deals with a theoretical and experimental study of t he co-deposition of spheroidal particles in a metal matrix deposited b y autocatalytic chemical deposition (ACD), The 3-D particle size distr ibution - as measured by image analysis of SEM micrographs of metallog raphic cross-sections - is related to the size distribution of the sta rting powder - as measured by photon autocorrelation spectroscopy - th rough a simple analytical model, The application of the model to the c o-deposition of diamond particles in an ACD Ni-P (9 wt.% P) amorphous matrix led to a correct prediction of average volume of embedded parti cles ((V) over bar), coverage factor (C-F) and number of co-deposited particles per unit volume of deposit (N-V).