Irradiation- Induced Extremes Create Hierarchical Face- /Body- Centered- Cubic Phases in Nanostructured High Entropy Alloys

A nanoscale hierarchical dual- phase structure is reported to form in a nanocrystalline NiFeCoCrCu high- entropy- alloy (HEA) film via ion irradiation. Under the extreme energy deposition and consequent thermal energy dissipation induced by energetic particles, a fundamentally new phenomenon is revealed, in which the original single- phase face- centered- cubic (FCC) structure partially transforms into alternating nanometer layers of a body- centered- cubic (BCC) structure. The orientation relationship follows the Nishiyama- Wasser- man relationship, that is, (011)BCC || (- 1¯1¯1)FCC and [100]BCC || [- 11¯0]FCC. Simulation results indicate that Cr, as a BCC stabilizing element, exhibits a tendency to segregate to the stacking faults (SFs). Furthermore, the high densities of SFs and twin boundaries in each nanocrystalline grain serve to accelerate the nucleation and growth of the BCC phase during irradiation. By adjusting the irradiation parameters, desired thicknesses of the FCC and BCC phases in the laminates can be achieved. This work demonstrates the controlled formation of an attractive dual- phase nanolaminate structure under ion irradiation and provides a strategy for designing new derivate structures of HEAs.A nanoscale hierarchical dual- phase structure is reported to form in a nanocrystalline NiFeCoCrCu high- entropy- alloy film via ion- irradiation- induced face- centered- cubic to body- centered- cubic phase transformation. Both kinetic and thermodynamic conditions for the phase transformation are explored. The results provide a new strategy for tailoring material structures on the nanometer or sub- nanometer scales.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162803/3/adma202002652_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162803/2/adma202002652.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162803/1/adma202002652-sup-0001-SuppMat.pd

Exploration of Thin Films for Neuromorphic, Electrofluidic, and Magneto-Plasmonic Applications

Due to the limit in computing power arising from the Von Neumann bottleneck, computational devices are being developed that mimic neuro-biological processing in the brain by correlating the device characteristics with the synaptic weight of neurons. We demonstrate a platform that combines ionic liquid gating of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (aIGZO) thin film transistors and electrowetting for programmable placement/connectivity of the of the ionic liquid. In this platform, both short term potentiation (STP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) are realized via electrostatic and electrochemical doping of the aIGZO, respectively, and pulsed bias measurements are demonstrated for low power considerations. Using a lithium-based ionic liquid, we demonstrate both potentiation (decrease in device resistance) and depression (increase in device resistance), and propose a 2D platform array that would enable a much higher pixel count via Active Matrix electrowetting. Fabrication and optimization of the aIGZO thin film transistors are then studied and optimized for integration into a 16x16 Active Matrix platform. Poly-silicon transistors are also explored as an alternative to aIGZO, and the behavior of these transistors are compared and contrasted with the aIGZO results. Bimetallic alloys with large discrepancies in atomic radii and crystal structure typically yield systems that are highly immiscible, even at high temperatures. The AgxFe1-x [silver iron] binary system has limited solid and liquid solubility and thus phase separated silver + iron alloys should result. Furthermore, silver has interesting plasmonic properties and iron is a strong ferromagnet, thus magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles/films should result due to their phase separation. We have leveraged a combinatorial sputter deposition to synthesize thin films with a large AgxFe1-x (0.19 \u3c x \u3c 0.84) phase space to correlate the composition and structure to the optical and magnetic properties for both as-deposited and annealed compositions

Programmable Electrofluidics for Ionic Liquid Based Neuromorphic Platform.

Due to the limit in computing power arising from the Von Neumann bottleneck, computational devices are being developed that mimic neuro-biological processing in the brain by correlating the device characteristics with the synaptic weight of neurons. This platform combines ionic liquid gating and electrowetting for programmable placement/connectivity of the ionic liquid. In this platform, both short-term potentiation (STP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) are realized via electrostatic and electrochemical doping of the amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (aIGZO), respectively, and pulsed bias measurements are demonstrated for lower power considerations. While compatible with resistive elements, we demonstrate a platform based on transitive amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (aIGZO) pixel elements. Using a lithium based ionic liquid, we demonstrate both potentiation (decrease in device resistance) and depression (increase in device resistance), and propose a 2D platform array that would enable a much higher pixel count via Active Matrix electrowetting

Irradiation stability and induced ferromagnetism in a nanocrystalline CoCrCuFeNi highly-concentrated alloy

In the field of radiation damage of crystalline solids, new highly-concentrated alloys (HCAs) are now considered to be suitable candidate materials for next generation fission/fusion reactors due to recently recorded outstanding radiation tolerance. Despite the preliminarily reported extraordinary properties, the mechanisms of degradation, phase instabilities and decomposition of HCAs are still largely unexplored fields of research. Herein, we investigate the response of a nanocrystalline CoCrCuFeNi HCA to thermal annealing and heavy ion irradiation in the temperature range from 293 to 773 K with the objective to analyze the stability of the nanocrystalline HCA in extreme conditions. The results led to the identification of two regimes of response to irradiation: (i) in which the alloy was observed to be tolerant under extreme irradiation conditions and (ii) in which the alloy is subject to matrix phase instabilities. The formation of FeCo monodomain nanoparticles under these conditions is also reported and a differential phase contrast study in the analytical electron-microscope is carried out to qualitatively probe its magnetic properties

Irradiation‐Induced Extremes Create Hierarchical Face‐/Body‐Centered‐Cubic Phases in Nanostructured High Entropy Alloys

A nanoscale hierarchical dual- phase structure is reported to form in a nanocrystalline NiFeCoCrCu high- entropy- alloy (HEA) film via ion irradiation. Under the extreme energy deposition and consequent thermal energy dissipation induced by energetic particles, a fundamentally new phenomenon is revealed, in which the original single- phase face- centered- cubic (FCC) structure partially transforms into alternating nanometer layers of a body- centered- cubic (BCC) structure. The orientation relationship follows the Nishiyama- Wasser- man relationship, that is, (011)BCC || (- 1¯1¯1)FCC and [100]BCC || [- 11¯0]FCC. Simulation results indicate that Cr, as a BCC stabilizing element, exhibits a tendency to segregate to the stacking faults (SFs). Furthermore, the high densities of SFs and twin boundaries in each nanocrystalline grain serve to accelerate the nucleation and growth of the BCC phase during irradiation. By adjusting the irradiation parameters, desired thicknesses of the FCC and BCC phases in the laminates can be achieved. This work demonstrates the controlled formation of an attractive dual- phase nanolaminate structure under ion irradiation and provides a strategy for designing new derivate structures of HEAs.A nanoscale hierarchical dual- phase structure is reported to form in a nanocrystalline NiFeCoCrCu high- entropy- alloy film via ion- irradiation- induced face- centered- cubic to body- centered- cubic phase transformation. Both kinetic and thermodynamic conditions for the phase transformation are explored. The results provide a new strategy for tailoring material structures on the nanometer or sub- nanometer scales.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162803/3/adma202002652_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162803/2/adma202002652.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162803/1/adma202002652-sup-0001-SuppMat.pd

High- Entropy Alloys: Irradiation- Induced Extremes Create Hierarchical Face- /Body- Centered- Cubic Phases in Nanostructured High Entropy Alloys (Adv. Mater. 39/2020)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162697/1/adma202070294.pd