Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-8p85h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-15T17:49:49.637Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mechanical properties of nanostructured amorphous metal multilayer thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

J.B. Vella ,
A.B. Mann ,
H. Kung ,
C.L. Chien ,
T.P. Weihs  and
R.C. Cammarata
J.B. Vella
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
A.B. Mann
Affiliation:
Department of Ceramic & Materials Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854
H. Kung
Affiliation:
Division of Materials Sciences and Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
C.L. Chien
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
T.P. Weihs
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
R.C. Cammarata
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
Get access

Abstract

The hardness of amorphous metal multilayered films was investigated by nanoindenation. Bilayer material systems of amorphous CuNb, FeB, and FeTi were produced by dc sputtering on 〈112￣0〉 sapphire substrates to a total thickness of 1 μm. The bilayer periods (Λ) ranged from 2 to 50 nm. The films’ noncrystallinity was verified by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction. The layer structure was verified by transmission electron microscopy and grazing angle XRD. The hardness and elastic modulus properties of the films, measured by nanoindentation, were shown to be statistically equivalent to the rule mixtures predictions. The hardness behavior is in contrast with the behavior of crystalline multilayered films, which generally display significant enhancements as the bilayer period is decreased below 10 nm. The lack of a significant hardness variation in the amorphous films strongly suggests that dislocation-mediated mechanisms do not govern inhomogeneous flow in amorphous metals.

Keywords

Metallic glassNanoindentationMechanical properties

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 19 , Issue 6 , June 2004 , pp. 1840 - 1848
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

1Was, G.S. and Foeke, T.: Deformation and fracture in microlaminates. Thin Solid Films 286, 1 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Shinn, M., Hultman, L. and Barnett, S.A.: Growth, structure, and microhardness of epitaxial TiN/NbN superlattices. J. Mater. Res. 4, 1 (1992).Google Scholar
3Oberle, R.R. and Cammarata, R.C.: Dependence of hardness on modulation amplitude in electrodeposited Cu-Ni compositionally modulated thin films. Scripta Met. 32, 583 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Helmerson, U., Todorova, SS.A, Barnett, Sundgren, J.E., Markert, L.C. and Greene, J.E.: Growth of single-crystal TiN/VN strained-layer superlattices with extremely high mechanical hardness. J. Appl. Phys. 62, 481 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Bunshah, R.F., Nimmagadda, R., Doerr, H.J., Movchan, B.A., Grechanuk, N.I. and Dabizha, E.V.: Structure and property relationships in microlaminate Ni-Cu and Fe-Cu condensates. Thin Solid Films 72, 261 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Daniels, B.J., Nix, W.D. and Clemens, B.M.: in Polycrystalline Thin Films: Structure, Texture, Properties, and Applications, edited by Barmak, K., Parker, M.A., Floro, J.A., Sinclair, R., and Smith, D.A. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 343, Pittsburgh, PA, 1994) p. 549Google Scholar
7Embury, J.D. and Hirth, J.P.: On dislocation storage and the mechanical response on fine scale microstructures. Acta Metall. Mater. 6, 42 (1992).Google Scholar
8Koehler, J.S.: Attempt to design a strong solid. Phys. Rev. B 2, 547 (1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9 E.O. Hall: The deformation and aging of mild steel. Proc. Phys. Soc. of London B 64, 747 (1951).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Petch, N.J.: The cleavage of polycrystals. J. Iron Steel Inst. 174, 25 (1953).Google Scholar
11Hoagland, R.G., Mitchell, T.E., Hirth, J.P. and Kung, H.: On the strengthening effects of interfaces in multilayer fcc metallic composites, Philos. Mag. A 82, 643 (2002).Google Scholar
12Shinn, M. and Barnett, S.A.: Effect of superlattice layer elastic moduli on hardness. Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 61 (1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Tabor, D.The Hardness of Metals (Clarendon Press, Oxford University, 1951).Google Scholar
14Gilman, J.J.: Dislocation Dynamics, edited by Rosenfield, A.R., Hahn, G.T., Bemut, A.L. Jr., and Jafee, R.I. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1968), pp. 3–25.Google Scholar
15Gilman, J.J.: Flow via dislocations in ideal glasses. J. Appl. Phys. 44, 675 (1973).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Davis, L.A. Mechanical responses of metallic glasses, In Metallic Glasses (American Society for Metals, Metals Park, OH, 1976) p. 190.Google Scholar
17Li, J.C.M.: Metallic Glasses , ASM Seminar, 1976 , Niagara Falls, pp. 224–226.Google Scholar
18Li, J.C.M.: Dislocations in amorphous metals. Met. Trans. A 16A, 2227 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Chaudhari, P., Levi, A. and Steinhardt, P.: Edge and screw dislocations in an amorphous solid. Phys. Rev. Lett. 43, 1517 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Li, J.C.M. Micromechanicanisms of deformation and fracture, In Metallic Glasses (ASM, Metals Park, OH, 1978).Google Scholar
21Davis, L.A., Das, S.K., Li, J.C.M. and Zedalis, M.S.: Mechanical properties of rapidly solidified amorphous and microcrystalline materials: A review. Int. J. Rapid Solidification. 8, 73 (1994).Google Scholar
22Chen, H., He, Y., Shiflet, G.J. and Poon, S.J.: Deformation-induced nanocrystal formation in shear bands of amorphous alloys. Nature 367, 541 (1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Pampillo, C.A.: Review: Flow and fracture in amorphous alloys. J. Mater. Sci. 10, 1194 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Spaepen, F. and Turnbull, D.: A mechanism for the flow and fracture of metallic glasses. Scripta Met. 8 563 (1974).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Li, J., Wang, Z.L. and Hufnagel, T.C.: Characterization of nanometer-scale defects in metallic glasses by quantitative high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Phys. Rev. B 65, 144201 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Wright, W.J., Hufnagel, T.C. and Nix, W.D.: Free volume coalescence and void formation in shear bands in metallic glasses. J. App. Phys. 93, 1432 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Flores, K.M. and Dauskardt, R.H.: Local heating associated with crack plasticity in Zr-Ti-Ni-Cu-Be bulk amorphous metals. J. Mater. Res. 14, 638 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28Flores, K.M., Suh, D., Howell, R., Asoka-Kumar, P., Sterne, P.A. and Dauskardt, R.H.: Flow and fracture of bulk metallic glass alloys and their composites. Materials Trans. JIM 42, 619 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Oliver, W.C. and Pharr, G.M.: An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments. J. Mater. Res. 7, 6 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Shuh, C.A. and Nieh, T.G.: A survey of instrumented indentation studies on metallic glasses. J. Mater. Res. 19, 46 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Tsui, T.Y., Oliver, W.C. and Pharr, G.M.: Influences of stress on the measurement of mechanical properties using nanoindentation: part I: Experimental studies in an aluminum alloy. J. Mater. Res. 11,3, 752 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32Joslin, D.L. and Oliver, W.C.: A new method for analyzing data from continuous depth-sensing microindentation tests. J. Mater. Res. 5, 123 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar