Processing of novel pseudomorphic Cu–Mo hierarchies in thin films

Abstract

A new processing route has been discovered through which far-from-equilibrium, metastable architectures with unprecedented properties are synthesized. This novel architecture contains many orders of hierarchy with multiple concentration modulation wavelengths. At one length scale, the matrix is comprised of lateral modulations of BCC Mo and pseudomorphic BCC Cu with a wavelength of 10 nm. FCC, Cu-rich islands of approximate 250 nm diameter are woven in-between the Mo-Cu matrix and contain ordered arrays of pseudomorphic, FCC, Mo-rich, coherent precipitates of approximately 1.0 nm diameter spacing. The resulting material exhibits unprecedented mechanical behavior of extensive plastic deformability at room temperature. IMPACT STATEMENT Traditional phase separated thin film morphologies are monolithic in architecture with only one concentration wavelength. By carefully manipulating the self-assembly kinetics through the deposition rate, we processed a structure with multiple concentration modulation wavelengths.