A Potential Superhard Material m-BCN

Resumo

We here propose a new superhard material m-BCN with comparable Vickers hardness to cBN by the use of first-principles calculations. The calculations show that the mentioned m-BCN is a thermodynamically and kinetically stable semiconductor. Hydrostatic calculation shows that it is anisotropic and its incompressibility is very close to cBN. Structural analysis shows that its excellent mechanical property and thermodynamically stability are inherited from diamond and cBN. These results provide a new clue to find new superhard phase.