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Title: Unusual size dependent strengthening mechanisms of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers

Abstract

Nanostructured crystalline/amorphous metallic multilayers have been increasingly studied due to their high strength and potential enhancement of plasticity in amorphous metals. Here we report on mechanical behaviors of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers that were prepared by magnetron sputtering with equal individual layer thickness (h) varying from 1 to 200 nm. A medium-range-order amorphous CuNb layer formed between Cu and amorphous CuNb layers. This intermediate layer facilitates transmission of plasticity from Cu to amorphous layers by preventing the smear of dislocation core on the interface. The maximum hardness of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers is achieved when h ≤ 50 nm, and is much lower than the hardness of single-layer amorphous CuNb films. Molecular dynamics simulations show that, comparing with single-layer amorphous CuNb, the pile-up of dislocations in Cu layers lowers the stress for the activation of shear transformation zones in amorphous CuNb layers in multilayers.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
  2. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States). Dept. of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
  3. China Univ. of Petroleum, Beijing (China). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  4. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). School of Materials Engineering. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  5. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). School of Materials Engineering
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1533450
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1397742
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0010482
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Acta Materialia
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 120; Journal ID: ISSN 1359-6454
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; crystalline/amorphous multilayers; intermediate layer; hardness; deformation mechanisms

Citation Formats

Fan, Z., Xue, S., Wang, J., Yu, K. Y., Wang, H., and Zhang, X. Unusual size dependent strengthening mechanisms of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.064.
Fan, Z., Xue, S., Wang, J., Yu, K. Y., Wang, H., & Zhang, X. Unusual size dependent strengthening mechanisms of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.064
Fan, Z., Xue, S., Wang, J., Yu, K. Y., Wang, H., and Zhang, X. Thu . "Unusual size dependent strengthening mechanisms of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.064. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1533450.
@article{osti_1533450,
title = {Unusual size dependent strengthening mechanisms of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers},
author = {Fan, Z. and Xue, S. and Wang, J. and Yu, K. Y. and Wang, H. and Zhang, X.},
abstractNote = {Nanostructured crystalline/amorphous metallic multilayers have been increasingly studied due to their high strength and potential enhancement of plasticity in amorphous metals. Here we report on mechanical behaviors of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers that were prepared by magnetron sputtering with equal individual layer thickness (h) varying from 1 to 200 nm. A medium-range-order amorphous CuNb layer formed between Cu and amorphous CuNb layers. This intermediate layer facilitates transmission of plasticity from Cu to amorphous layers by preventing the smear of dislocation core on the interface. The maximum hardness of Cu/amorphous CuNb multilayers is achieved when h ≤ 50 nm, and is much lower than the hardness of single-layer amorphous CuNb films. Molecular dynamics simulations show that, comparing with single-layer amorphous CuNb, the pile-up of dislocations in Cu layers lowers the stress for the activation of shear transformation zones in amorphous CuNb layers in multilayers.},
doi = {10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.064},
journal = {Acta Materialia},
number = ,
volume = 120,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Cited by: 52 works
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