The complete ternary system Ni-Co-Al was fabricated as a thin film materials library by combinatorial magnetron sputtering and was annealed subsequently in several steps in Ar and under atmospheric conditions at 500 °C. Ni-Co-Al is the base system for both Ni- and Co-based superalloys. Therefore, the phases occurring in this system and their oxidation behavior is of high interest. The Ni-Co-Al materials library was investigated using high-throughput characterization methods such as optical measurements, resistance screening, automated EDX, automated XRD, and XPS. From the obtained data a thin film phase diagram for the Ni-Co-Al system in its state after annealing at 500 °C in air was established. Furthermore, a surface oxide composition map of the full Ni-Co-Al system for oxidation at 500 °C was concluded. As a result, it could be shown that at 500 °C an amount of 10 at. % Al is necessary for a Ni-Co-Al thin film to produce a protective Al-oxide scale.
Co–Mn–Ge is a system of interest for magnetocaloric applications as a solid state magnetic refrigerant. A thin film materials library covering a large fraction of the Co–Mn–Ge ternary composition space was fabricated by sputter deposition. After deposition, it was annealed at 600 °C for 3 h and quenched subsequently. An energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction‐based cluster analysis revealed the regions of existence for the CoMnGe and the Co2MnGe single phase areas. Furthermore, high intensity diffraction peaks revealed the presence of the hexagonal (Co, Mn)7Ge6 phase in a region that also featured the CoMnGe phase. In this region, a non‐linear, symmetric, and hysteretic shift of the (200) diffraction peak of the (Co, Mn)7Ge6 phase was observed by temperature‐dependent X‐ray diffraction for Co23Mn33Ge44, indicating a structural phase transition taking place between 350 and 375 K upon heating and 325 and 300 K upon cooling. This coincides with a magnetic transition near 325 K from the ferromagnetic to the paramagnetic state. However, no magnetostructural coupling was identified in the temperature range from 330 to 300 K upon cooling. Magnetostriction and an undetected structural transition of the CoMnGe phase were ruled out as probable causes for the non‐linear shifts.
High-throughput methods were used to investigate a Ni-Co-Al thin film materials library, which is of interest for structural and functional applications (superalloys, shape memory alloys). X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were performed to identify the phase regions of the Ni-Co-Al system in its state after annealing at 600 °C. Optical, electrical, and magneto-optical measurements were performed to map functional properties and confirm XRD results. All results and literature data were used to propose a ternary thin film phase diagram of the Ni-Co-Al thin film system.
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