A physico-chemical investigation of refractory hard metals

Abstract

In this investigation, the resistivity of vanadium nitride at elevated temperatures has been measured using a resistance bridge based on the Dauphinée/Mooser (1955) chopper system. In general, an almost linear increase of resistivity with temperature was observed for VN, but at certain temperatures, deviations from linearity (anomalies) were observed, these have been classified into three types. Attempts have been made to correlate the anomalous behaviour and temperature coefficients of resistivity with the ambient atmospheres and with the impurities, (especially oxygen), stoichiotmetry and density of this material. Oxygen and excess nitrogen appear to be electron donors in their effects on VN and result in a decrease in the slope of resistivity vs temperature curves. Oxygen and excess nitrogen also appear to increase the overall resistivity due to an increase in defect concentration. No effects due to the ambient atmosphere have been observed in the case of hot-pressed samples. lndicating that reaction can only occur if the reacting gases can reach the interior of the samples.