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Influence of boron contents on properties of AlMgB films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

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Abstract

Ternary AlMgB thin films were synthesized on silicon (100) substrate at 573 K by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method using one Al/Mg co-target and one boron target. The thickness of the as-deposited thin film was controlled to 500 nm by adjusting deposition time. The influences of sputtering powers on the elemental contents and structural and mechanical properties were investigated by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and nanoindentation system. At the same time, the ball-on-disk tribometer was used to measure the friction behavior of the films. Experimental results indicate that the as-deposited boron-rich films are primarily amorphous structure and possess a dramatic high hardness up to 39 GPa with 99.03 at.% boron. Obviously, it has exceeded the hardness value of 32 GPa of pure AlMgB14 bulk material prepared by sintering method. Furthermore, the friction coefficients of the thin films exhibit an average value as low as 0.3, which is considered as the effect of self-lubricating.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Wenchao Qu, Aimina Wu & Xin Jiang

  2. School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Zhanling Wu, Yizhen Bai & Xin Jiang

  3. Institute of Materials Engineering, University of Siegen, Siegen, D-57076, Germany

    Xin Jiang

Authors
  1. Wenchao Qu
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  2. Aimina Wu
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  3. Zhanling Wu
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  4. Yizhen Bai
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  5. Xin Jiang
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Correspondence to Aimina Wu.

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Qu, W., Wu, A., Wu, Z. et al. Influence of boron contents on properties of AlMgB films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. Rare Metals 31, 164–167 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-012-0484-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-012-0484-9

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