This paper describes studies on the thermal annealing behavior of Cu films with 2.3 at.% W deposited on Si substrates. The magnetron cosputtered Cu films with insoluble W were vacuum annealed at temperatures ranging from 200 to 800 °C. Twins were observed in focused ion beam and transmission electron microscopy images of as-deposited and 400 °C annealed pure Cu film, and these twins were attributed to the intrinsic low stacking fault energy. Twins in pure Cu film may provide an additional diffusion path during annealing for copper silicide formation. The beneficial effect of W on the thermal stability of Cu film was supported by the following observations: (i) x-ray diffraction studies show that Cu4Si was formed at 530 °C in Cu–W film, whereas pure Cu film exhibited Cu4Si growth at 400 °C; (ii) shallow diffusion profiles for Cu into Si in Cu–W film through secondary ion mass spectroscopy analyses, and the high activation energy needed for the copper silicide formation from the differential scanning calorimetry study; (iii) addition of W in Cu film increases the stacking fault energy and results in a low twin density.

New Cu-based bulk glassy alloys with large supercooled liquid regions and high mechanical strength were formed in Cu–Hf–Al ternary systems. The large supercooled liquid region exceeding 70 K was obtained in the composition range of 40 at.% Hf at 2.5% Al, 37.5–50% Hf at 5% Al, and 45% Hf at 7.5% Al. The largest supercooled liquid region ΔTx(= Tx – Tg) was 91 K for Cu50Hf45Al5 alloy, and the highest reduced glass-transition temperature was 0.63 for Cu50Hf42.5Al7.5 and Cu52.5Hf40Al7.5 alloys. The alloys with large ΔTx values above 50 K were formed into bulk glassy rods with diameters up to 3 mm by copper mold casting, and the glassy alloy rods exhibited high compressive fracture strength of 2260 to 2370 MPa and Young's modulus of 121 to 128 GPa combined with elastic elongation of 1.9% to 2.0% and plastic elongation of 0.2% to 0.6%. No bulk glassy alloys were formed in the Cu–Hf binary system by copper mold casting, and, hence, the addition of 2.5% to 7.5% Al to Cu–Hf alloys was very effective for increasing glass-forming ability as well as the stabilization of supercooled liquid. The effectiveness can be interpreted on the basis of the concept of the formation of a unique glassy structure in special multicomponent alloys with the three component rules.

The effect of Mg in Ag(Mg)/SiO2/Si multilayers on the adhesion, passivation, and resistivity following vacuum annealing at 200–500 °C has been investigated. The annealing of Ag(Mg)/SiO2/Si multilayers produced surface and interfacial MgO layers, resulting in a MgO/Ag/MgO/SiO2/Si structure. The formation of a surface MgO/Ag bilayer structure provided excellent passivation against air and CF4 plasma chemistry. In addition, the adhesion of Ag to SiO2 was improved due to the formation of an interfacial MgO layer resulting from the reaction of segregated Mg with SiO2. However, the negligible solubility of Si in Ag prevented the dissolution of free silicon into the Ag(Mg) film produced from the reaction Mg + SiO2 = MgO + free Si, which in turn limited the reaction between Mg and SiO2, which led to a decrease in the adhesion of Ag to SiO2 at the higher temperature. The use of an O2 plasma prior to Ag(Mg) alloy deposition on SiO2 produced an oxygen-rich surface on the SiO2, which allowed for the enhanced reaction of the segregated Mg and SiO2 at the surface, thus resulting in markedly increased adhesion properties.

The tribological properties of a B2-type Al–Pd–Mn quasicrystal approximant were investigated and compared with those of an Al–Pd–Mn icosahedral quasicrystal. The approximant was of the _ phase, having a crystalline CsCl-type structure and nominal composition Al48Pd42Mn10. Friction coefficients measured in ultrahigh vacuum between a pair of Al48Pd42Mn10 samples having truly clean surfaces were found to be twice as high as those reported for the Al70Pd21Mn9 quasicrystal. When the surfaces were oxidized by exposure to O2 or H2O, the friction coefficients decreased by roughly a factor of two for both materials but the friction coefficient for the approximant remained roughly twice that of the quasicrystal. The rate of oxidation of the approximant was found to be one order of magnitude higher than that of the quasicrystal. This corroborates findings that suggest that quasicrystals exhibit an inherent resistance to oxidation and corrosion. Vickers hardness measurements show that the quasicrystal is roughly three times as hard as the approximant.

Rutile titania powders were synthesized via a sol-gel/hydrothermal process using nitric acid as the catalyst. A molar acid to alkoxide ratio of 10 and a water to alkoxide molar ratio of 250 produced 100% rutile powders when precipitated below 45 °C. Higher temperatures yielded initially either anatase or mixtures of anatase and rutile. Spherulitic growth produced cauliflower-shaped agglomerates with a mean size of 760 nm. The agglomerates could be broken apart into approximately 100-nm large broomlike agglomerates via a dissolution and reprecipitation process when reacted with approximately 2.4 molar nitric acid. Transmission electron microscopy observations showed that the broomlike agglomerate consisted of linear clusters of rodlike agglomerates composed of crystallographically aligned, primary particles approximately 4 nm in size.

The relationship between the nanohardness and the microstructures in the Fe–C martensite was studied to understand the contributions of the matrix and the grain boundary to the macroscopic strength. As-quenched martensite was examined for five kinds of Fe–C alloys with various carbon contents in the range of 0.1–0.8 mass%, while quench-tempered martensite was investigated for an Fe–0.4% C alloy. The ratio of the nanohardness to the macrohardness Hn/Hv was much smaller for the Fe–C martensite than those for the single crystals, indicating that there is a significant grain-boundary effect for the martensite. The ratio Hn/Hv of the as-quenched martensite decreased with an increase in the carbon content since the size of the block structure decreased with increasing carbon content. For the quench-tempered specimens, a significant reduction of the grain-boundary effect occured at the tempering temperature of 723 K. It is mainly due to the depression of the locking parameter caused by the disappearance of the film-like carbides on the boundaries.

Laboratory x-ray fluorescence holography equipment was developed. A single-bent graphite monochromator with a large curvature and a high-count-rate x-ray detection system were applied in this equipment. To evaluate the performance of this equipment, a hologram pattern of a gold single crystal was measured. It took two days, which was about one-third the time required for the previous measurements using the conventional x-ray source and several times that using the synchrotron source. The quality of the hologram pattern is as good as that obtained using the synchrotrons. Clear atomic images on (002) are reconstructed.

This paper presents an optical mean to probe carefully the strain field generated by a microindentation on [111]-oriented GaAs sample, using micro-Raman spectroscopy and microphotoluminescence spectroscopy. Raman and photoluminescence signals recorded from the same point of the sample are directly compared. The frequency shift of the longitudinal and transverse optical phonons was analyzed in great detail, revealing unambiguously the presence of both compressive and tensile strains within the indented area. Outside the indentation fingerprint, the magnitude of strain deduced from luminescence measurements was found to be lower than the one determined by Raman scattering. The Raman spectra revealed significant variations of the optical phonons polarizability with the deformation. Finally, atomic force microscope images of the indented zone aid in the interpretation.

The effects of soft adhesive interlayers on contact-induced radial cracking in brittle coatings on supporting substrates were investigated recently. A semiempirical equation for the critical load to initiate radial cracking was derived, which used three fitting parameters obtained by comparison with the finite element results. An analytical model is derived in the present study to illustrate the effects of adhesive interlayers. This is achieved by adopting the analogy between the coating/substrate system and a plate on an elastic foundation. In the presence of an adhesive interlayer, the interlayer/substrate bilayer is treated as the effective elastic foundation. The effective modulus of foundation for the bilayer is derived, and the solution for coating/interlayer/substrate systems can be obtained from the existing solution for coating/substrate systems by replacing the modulus of foundation. Specific results are calculated for critical loads to initiate radial cracks in silicon coatings bonded by adhesive interlayers of different materials and thicknesses to glass substrates. The present analytical solution provides an alternative other than the existing semiempirical equation in predicting the effects of adhesive interlayers.

Mechanical properties of cast Fe-based bulk glassy alloy rods with compositions of (Fe0.75B0.15Si0.1)96Nb4 and Fe77Ga3P9.5C4B4Si2.5 were examined by compression and Vickers hardness tests. The Young's modulus (E), yield strength (σy), fracture strength (σf), elastic strain (εe), fracture strain (εf), and Vickers hardness (Hv) were 175 GPa, 3165 MPa, 3250 MPa, 1.8%, 2.2%, and 1060, respectively, for the former alloy and 182 GPa, 2980 MPa, 3160 MPa, 1.9%, 2.2%, and 870, respectively, for the latter alloy. The εf /E and Hv/3E were 0.019–0.017 and 0.020–0.016, respectively, for the alloys, in agreement with the previous data for a number of bulk glassy alloys. The agreement suggests that these Fe-based bulk glassy alloys have an elastic–plastic deformation mode. The syntheses of high-strength Fe-based bulk glassy alloys with distinct compressive plastic strain and elastic–plastic deformation mode are encouraging for future development of Fe-based bulk glassy alloys as structural and soft magnetic materials.