Surface study of the (100) and (010) faces of the quasicrystalapproximant Al4(Cr, Fe)

Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) results are used to study the pseudo-6-fold nature of the (100) surface of the orthorhombic quasicrystal approximant Al4(Cr, Fe). LEED patterns are also presented from the pseudo-10-fold (010) surface of this material. In each case the results are compared with the known bulk structure of this complex metallic alloy

Using coupled micropillar compression and micro-Laue diffraction to investigate deformation mechanisms in a complex metallic alloy Al13Co4

In this investigation, we have used in-situ micro-Laue diffraction combined with micropillar compression of focused ion beam milled Al13Co4 complex metallic alloy to study the evolution of deformation in Al13Co4. Streaking of the Laue spots showed that the onset of plastic flow occured at stresses as low as 0.8 GPa, although macroscopic yield only becomes apparent at 2 GPa. The measured misorientations, obtained from peak splitting, enabled the geometrically necessary dislocation density to be estimated as 1.1 x 1013 m-2

Anomalous yielding in the complex metallic alloy Al13Co4

The single crystal deformation behaviour of orthorhombic Al13Co4 hasbeen studied below the brittle-ductile transition temperature observedin bulk material from room temperature to 600 degrees C, usingindentation, microcompression and transmission electron microscopy. Atroom temperature, slip occurred most easily by dislocation motion on the(0 0 1)[0 1 0] slip system, as observed in the ductile regime at hightemperatures. However, as the temperature was increased towards 600degrees C, the slip pattern changed to one consisting of linear defectsrunning perpendicular to the loading axis. Serrated flow was observed atall temperatures, although at 600 degrees C the magnitude of theserrations decreased. Anomalous yielding behaviour was also observedabove 226 degrees C, where both the yield and the 2\% flow stressincreased with temperature, almost doubling between 226 and 600 degreesC. It has been suggested that this might arise due to the increasingstability of orthorhombic Al13Co4 with respect to the monoclinic formwith increasing temperature. This is shown to be consistent with thetheoretical predictions that exist

Chemical contrast in STM imaging of transition metal aluminides

The present manuscript reviews recent scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) studies of transition metal (TM) aluminide surfaces. It provides a general perspective on the contrast between Al atoms and TM atoms in STM imaging. A general trend is the much stronger bias dependence of TM atoms, or TM-rich regions of the surface. This dependence can be attenuated by the local chemical arrangements and environments. Al atoms can show a stronger bias dependence when their chemical environment, such as their immediate subsurface, is populated with TM. All this is well explained in light of combined results of STM and both theoretical and experimental electronic and crystallographic structure determinations. Since STM probes the Fermi surface, the electronic structure in the vicinity of the Fermi level (EF) is essential forunderstanding contrast and bias dependence. Hence, partial density of states provides information about the TM d band position and width, s–p–d hybridization or interactions, or charge transfer between constituent elements. In addition, recent developments in STM image simulations are very interesting for elucidating chemical contrast at Al–TM alloy surfaces, and allow direct atomic identification, when the surface does not show too much disorder. Overall, we show that chemically-specific imaging is often possible at these surfaces

The Influence of Thermal Treatment on Magnetic Moments in i-Al-Pd-Mn Quasicrystals

The influence of cooling rate on thermal strains in the quasicrystalline icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn complex metallic alloy was investigated. In general, measurements of the electronic magnetization can be used as an indirect method for determining the short-scale disorder in the crystal structure as the magnetic moments at the Mn sites are highly dependent on their local environment. Excluding the contributions of thermal vacancies and second phase precipitates by proper selection of preannealing temperatures and durations, the changes in magnetization can be ascribed to the appearance or disappearance of thermal strains in the crystal structure. It was found that water-quenching increases thermal strains irrespective of previous thermal history.</p

Surface-driven, one-step chemical vapor deposition of γ-Al4Cu9 complex metallic alloy film

The present paper is a paradigm for the one-step formation of complex intermetallic coatings by chemical vapor deposition. It genuinely addresses the challenge of depositing an intermetallic coating with comparable contents of Cu and Al. Depending on processing conditions, a pure γ-Al4Cu9 and multi-phase Al-Cu films are grown with wetting properties of the former being similar to its bulk counterpart. The deposition process and its parametric investigation are detailed. Two metalorganic precursors are used taking into account their transport and chemical properties, and deposition temperature ranges. On line and ex situ characterizations enlighten the competition which occurs at the growing surface between molecular fragments, and which limits growth rates. Notably, introducing a partial pressure of hydrogen gas during deposition reduces Al growth rate from dimethylethylamine alane (DMEAA), by displacing the hydrogen desorption equilibrium. This Al partial growth rate decrease is not sufficient to achieve a Cu/Al atomic ratio that is high enough for the formation of intermetallics with close Al and Cu compositions. A fivefold increase of the flux of the gaseous copper(I) cyclopentadienyl triethylphosphine CpCuPEt3, whereas the DMEAA flux remains constant, results in the targeted Al/Cu atomic ratio equal to 44/56. Nevertheless, the global growth rate is rendered extremely low by the deposition inhibition caused by a massive phosphine adsorption (-PEt3). Despite these limitations, the results pave the way towards the conformal coating of complex surface geometries by such intermetallic compounds

The Generalization of the Kinetic Equations and the Spectral Conductivity Function to Anisotropic Systems: Case T-Al72.5Mn21.5Fe6 Complex Metallic Alloy

Electrical conductivity, σ, and thermoelectric power, S, of the monocrystalline T-Al72.5Mn21.5Fe6 complex metallic alloy have been investigated in the temperature range from 2 to 300 K. The crystallographic-direction-dependent measurements were performed along the [0 0 1], [0 1 0] and [1 0 0] directions of the orthorhombic unit cell, where the stacking direction is along the [0 1 0] direction. The electrical conductivity exhibits a very small anisotropy, and in all directions shows the non-metallic behaviour with square root, &radic;T, temperature behaviour and finite value in the T = 0 limit. Spectral conductivity function, σS(E), constructed out of measurements, reflects anisotropy of the experimental data and indicate non-analytic square root like singularity at Fermi level. Asymmetry of the spectral conductivity function has been extracted from the thermoelectric power data.</p

The Generalization of the Kinetic Equations and the Spectral Conductivity Function to Anisotropic Systems: Case T-Al_72.5Mn_21.5Fe_6 Complex Metallic Alloy

Electrical conductivity, σ, and thermoelectric power, S, of the monocrystalline T-Al_72.5Mn_21.5Fe_6 complex metallic alloy have been investigated in the temperature range from 2 to 300 K. The crystallographic-direction-dependent measurements were performed along the [0 0 1], [0 1 0] and [1 0 0] directions of the orthorhombic unit cell, where the stacking direction is along the [0 1 0] direction. The electrical conductivity exhibits a very small anisotropy, and in all directions shows the non-metallic behaviour with square root, √T, temperature behaviour and finite value in the T = 0 limit. Spectral conductivity function, σS(E), constructed out of measurements, reflects anisotropy of the experimental data and indicate non-analytic square root like singularity at Fermi level. Asymmetry of the spectral conductivity function has been extracted from the thermoelectric power data

The Generalization of the Kinetic Equations and the Spectral Conductivity Function to Anisotropic Systems: Case T-Al_72.5Mn_21.5Fe_6 Complex Metallic Alloy

Electrical conductivity, σ, and thermoelectric power, S, of the monocrystalline T-Al_72.5Mn_21.5Fe_6 complex metallic alloy have been investigated in the temperature range from 2 to 300 K. The crystallographic-direction-dependent measurements were performed along the [0 0 1], [0 1 0] and [1 0 0] directions of the orthorhombic unit cell, where the stacking direction is along the [0 1 0] direction. The electrical conductivity exhibits a very small anisotropy, and in all directions shows the non-metallic behaviour with square root, √T, temperature behaviour and finite value in the T = 0 limit. Spectral conductivity function, σS(E), constructed out of measurements, reflects anisotropy of the experimental data and indicate non-analytic square root like singularity at Fermi level. Asymmetry of the spectral conductivity function has been extracted from the thermoelectric power data