NANOSTRUCTURAL STUDIES OF SPUTTER-DEPOSITED NixAl1-x (0.5 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) ALLOY THIN FILMS

The nanostructural characteristics of direct-current magnetron sputter-deposited NixAl1-x (0.5 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) alloy films were studied during in situ isothermal annealing in a transmission electron microscope. An expansion of the lattice by nearly 5% was observed for the Ni0.5Al0.5 and the Ni0.8Al0.2 fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: T. Joseph, Sahaya Anand, A.H.W., Ngan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/4335/
http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/4335/1/MJM_7.pdf
Description
Summary:The nanostructural characteristics of direct-current magnetron sputter-deposited NixAl1-x (0.5 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) alloy films were studied during in situ isothermal annealing in a transmission electron microscope. An expansion of the lattice by nearly 5% was observed for the Ni0.5Al0.5 and the Ni0.8Al0.2 films in their low-thickness and as-deposited state. The lattice size approaches the bulk value when the film thickness increases or after vacuum annealing heat-treatment. The Ni0.8Al0.2 films have a nanocrystalline structure in which the ordered L12 phase appears upon annealing at above 500°C. The ordered B2 phase for Ni0.5Al0.5 and Ni5Al3 phase with orthorhombic structure for Ni0.65Al0.35 were found.