Ion-induced grain growth in multilayer and coevaporated metal alloy thin films

Abstract

Irradiation experiments were conducted on multilayer (ML) and coevaporated (CO) thin films in order to examine the role that the heat-of-mixing ([Delta]Hmix) has in ion-induced grain growth. Room-temperature irradiations using 1.7 MeV Xe were performed in the High Voltage Electron Microscope at Argonne National Laboratory. The alloys studied (Pt-Ti, Pt-V, Pt-Ni, Au-Co and Ni-Al) spanned a large range of [Delta]Hmix values. Comparison of grain growth rates between ML and CO films of a given alloy confirmed a heat of mixing effect. Differences in grain growth rates between ML and CO films scaled according to the sign and magnitude of [Delta]Hmix of the system (with the exception of the Pt-V system). Substantial variations in growth rates among CO alloy films experiencing similar irradiation damage demonstrated that a purely collisional approach is inadequate for describing ion-induced grain growth and consideration must also be given to material-specific properties. Results from CO alloy films were consistent with a thermal spike model of ion-induced grain growth. The grain boundary mobility was observed to be proportional to the thermal spike-related parameter, F2D/[Delta]H3coh, where FD is the energy deposited in nuclear interactions and [Delta]Hcoh is the cohesive energy.