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High-temperature stability of epitaxial, non-isostructural Mo/NbN superlattices

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Abstract

The effect of 1000 °C vacuum annealing on the structure and hardness of epitaxial Mo/NbN superlattice thin films was studied. The intensity of superlattice satellite peaks, measured by x-ray diffraction, decreased during annealing while new peaks corresponding to a MoNbN ternary phase appeared. The results are consistent with the Mo–Nb–N phase diagram, which shows no mutual solubility between Mo, NbN, and MoNbN. Even after 3-h anneals and a loss of most of the superlattice peak intensity, the room-temperature hardness was the same as for as-deposited superlattices. The retained hardness suggests that a residual nanocomposite structure is retained even after the formation of the ternary structure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Coating Technology Group and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    C. Engström, A. Madan & S. A. Barnett

  2. Physics Department, Linköping University, Sweden, USA

    C. Engström, J. Birch & L. Hultman

  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

    M. Nastasi

Authors
  1. C. Engström
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  2. A. Madan
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  3. J. Birch
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  4. M. Nastasi
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  5. L. Hultman
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  6. S. A. Barnett
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Engström, C., Madan, A., Birch, J. et al. High-temperature stability of epitaxial, non-isostructural Mo/NbN superlattices. Journal of Materials Research 15, 554–559 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2000.0082

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.2000.0082

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