Development of a High-Throughput Method for the Optical Screening of Phase Transformations Related to Amorphous Materials for Harsh Environment Applications
Abstract
A method to systematically and efficiently search for new materials is to use thin-film combinatorics, which offers the great advantage of producing materials libraries with hundreds of samples on one substrate in a single experiment. Using a combinatorial approach together with high-throughput characterization methods should lead to faster results than using the conventional experimental strategies. This project's objective is to fabricate thin film materials libraries of amorphous materials which exhibit high crystallization temperatures and show superior corrosion resistance, and to develop high-throughput methods to characterize them. Combinatorial libraries of two materials systems were studied during the course of this project: Ti-Ni-Cu and Cr-Si-Nb. Physical vapor deposition was used to deposit the libraries. Atomic mixing and partial layer/atomic layer approaches for coating material growth were both used. A series of identical thin-film libraries were produced, enabling directly comparable subsequent measurements during annealing and high-temperature oxidation corrosion investigations. High-throughput characterization techniques developed and/or employed included automated surface profilometry, automated energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, automated x-ray diffraction, high-throughput transmission electron microscopy, automated electrical resistivity mapping, in-situ measurement of bending of micro-machined cantilever beams, ex-situ digital holographic measurement of thickness changes or cantilever bending, and in-situ optically monitored surface roughness, color, or reflectivity changes during heat treatment. These techniques offer potential to rapidly characterize materials libraries to identify promising candidates with desired properties.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA568178
Entities
People
- Alfred Ludwig