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Characterization and control of microstructure in combinatorially prepared aluminum-silicon thin film nanocomposites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2006

C.H. Olk  and
D.B. Haddad
C.H. Olk*
Affiliation:
Materials and Processes Laboratory, General Motors Research and Development Center, Warren, Michigan 48090
D.B. Haddad
Affiliation:
Materials and Processes Laboratory, General Motors Research and Development Center, Warren, Michigan 48090
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: charles.h.olk@gm.com
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Abstract

In this paper, we describe the application of thin film combinatorial deposition methods to systematically control the microstructure of AlxSi(1−x) alloys through variations in composition and growth temperature. Discrete libraries of compositionally graded films have been sputter deposited onto silicon substrates to produce two structural phase regions: amorphous a-(Al–Si) and amorphous a-Si plus crystalline c-Al. The microstructure was investigated using x-ray diffraction while atomic force microscopy techniques were used to obtain surface morphology and phase distribution.

Keywords

Combinatorial synthesisFilmScanning-probe microscopy (SPM)

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Type
Articles
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Journal of Materials Research , Volume 21 , Issue 5 , May 2006 , pp. 1221 - 1228
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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