Intermetallic phase formation in aluminium and iron thin film systems

Phase formation in Al–Fe thin film systems

“…It could correspond to Al 82 Fe 18 which was previously reported in literature as an icosahedral phase. The sequence of phase formation evidenced in this work agrees with that reported by Csanady et al [6], however the determined temperatures are different. The temperature of formation of Al 5 Fe 2 is in good agreement with that reported by Pazsko [9].…”

“…We first observed the formation of Al 6 Fe around 330 C. When this phase is formed, the aluminium is totally consumed. Around 360 C, the Al 6 Fe phase reacts with some remaining Fe to form Al 5 Fe 2 , and at about 400 C, Al 5 Fe 2 consumes all the remaining Fe to form AlFe.…”

“…At higher temperatures, around 570 C, both Al 3 Fe and Al disappear and form a new phase that we were not able to identify from JCPDS files [11]. This latter phase could correspond to the icosahedral structure evidenced for the Al 82 Fe 18 composition both in bulk materials [12,13] and in multilayers [6].…”

“…Csanady et al [6] investigated bilayers and multilayers of aluminium and iron deposited by sequential evaporation. Three compositions were considered for the bilayers (Al 33 Fe 67 , Al 70 Fe 30 , Al 81 Fe 19 ) and one for the multilayers (Al 81 Fe 19 ).…”

Diffusion during annealing of Al/Cu/Fe thin films

“…The formation of θ-Al 2 Cu phase is reported already at 160°C [1]. The attention has also been paid to the Al/Fe system, particularly to the multilayers [6][7][8]. At 200°C the diffusion of Al into Fe starts, to be followed by FeAl phase formation [7].…”