Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Metallic Glass Thin Films via Modification of Structural Heterogeneity

Xindi Ma; Kang Sun; Peiyou Li; Nizhen Zhang; Qing Wang; Gang Wang

doi:10.3390/ma14040999

Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Metallic Glass Thin Films via Modification of Structural Heterogeneity

Materials (Basel). 2021 Feb 20;14(4):999. doi: 10.3390/ma14040999.

Authors

Xindi Ma¹, Kang Sun¹, Peiyou Li², Nizhen Zhang¹, Qing Wang¹, Gang Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Materials, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong 723001, China.

Abstract

The structure of Cu₅₀Zr₅₀ and Co₅₆Ta₃₅B₉ metallic glass thin films (MGTF) was effectively tailored via various applied substrate temperatures by means of the magnetron sputtering technology. Obviously enhanced hardness and elastic modulus are achieved by different compositional MGTFs by increasing the substrate temperature. Compared with the CuZr MGTFs, the CoTaB MGTF deposited at 473 K displays the smaller strain-rate sensitivity exponent, m, and a weaker spectrum intensity based on the nanoindentation creep test, suggesting its better creep resistance. In addition, the STZ volume of the CoTaB MGTF significantly decreases after depositing at higher temperature. According to the nano-scratch analysis, the CoTaB MGTF at the substrate temperatures of 473 K performs the shallower scratch width and the larger H³/E² value, indicating its better tribological property.

Keywords: magnetron sputtering; metallic glass thin films; nano-scratch; nanoindentation; structure.

Abstract

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