Novel structurally stable tungsten carbide crystal

摘要

In a novel tungsten carbide crystal of approximate formula WC, especially for production of hard metal tools, high strength compounds and the like, at least five (at least ten) adjacent atomic layers form a layer stack with unidirectional stacking vectors while the stacking vectors in other layers may have different directions, the sum of the layers belonging to unidirectional stacking vector stacks being /- 30 (preferably /- 80, especially about 100)% of all the layers of the crystal. Also claimed is a method of producing the above crystal, in which tungsten powder is heated with carbon black or graphite at up to 2700 deg C under an excess pressure of greater than 1000 bar.