Spatially-Resolved Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon Films on the Glass Substrate by Multi-beam Laser Interference

Laser interference induced crystallization of amorphous silicon （a-Si） on the glass substrate was performed using a Q-switched Nd：YAG （yttrium aluminum garnet） laser. White light interferometer （WLI） and atomic force microscope （AFM） were used to characterize the morphology of the structured films, while X-ray diffraction （XRD）, combined with the AFM, was used to analyse the crystalline structure of the film. The experimental results show that the laser energy density above a certain threshold, in the range of 400-500 mJ/cm2,triggers the patterned crystallizations which take the form similar to the laser intensity distribution. For the patterned crystallization under multipulse exposure, a definite polycrystalline structure with individual phases was observed by XRD. The difference in feature form, e.g., deepened craters or heightened lines, is related to the laser energy density relative to the threshold of evaporation of the material.     

Pressure Effect on Crystallization of Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5 Bulk Metallic Glass

The effect of pressure on the variation of the crystallization phases of the Zr55u30Al10Ni5 bulk glass and its thermal stability under high pressure annealing was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD)and differential scanning calorimeter(DSC).The mode of crystallization and products of crystallization of the Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5 bulk glass were quite different pressure.At ambient pressure,the crystallization products consisted of NiZr2 and CuZr2,while at pressure of 1 Gpa and 3 Gpa,the alloys crystallized into NiZr2 and Cu10Zr7,respectively.The alloy was nearly not crystallized and only a small amount of Cu10Zr7 was precipitated under 5 Gpa.DSC proved that the mode of the crystallization under high pressure was different from that at ambient pressure.     

Influence of Laser Shock Processing on WC–Co Hardmetal

Hardmetals are widely used as machining tool material whose wear resistance is of vital importance. Using coatings as the primary tool strengthening method has certain limitations. On the other hand, laser shock processing (LSP) is an emerging technology which has been applied extensively in improving the properties of materials. In this paper, WC–Co hardmetal is treated with LSP to explore a new way of tool strengthening. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope were used to observe the near-surface microstructure. Microhardness was measured and a friction-wear testing machine was used to test the friction and wear properties of the processed surface. Wear factor and friction coefficient were analyzed and optical microscope and SEM were applied to observre the morphologies of wear tracks. Results show that LSP gives rise to grain refinement and the dislocation density is augmented, thus increasing the surface hardness and improving the friction and wear behavior.     

A Laser Scanner–Stage Synchronized System Supporting the Large-Area Precision Polishing of Additive-Manufactured Metallic Surfaces

This paper proposes a scanner–stage synchronized approach emphasizing a novel control structure for the laser polishing of Inconel 718 components manufactured by selective laser melting in order to address increasing demands for high surface quality in metal additive manufacturing. The proposed synchronized control system is composed of a motion decomposition module and an error synthesis module. The experimental results show that stitching errors can be avoided thanks to continuous motion during laser processing. Moreover, in comparison with the existing step-scan method, the processing efficiency of the proposed method is improved by 38.22% and the surface quality of the laser-polished area is significantly enhanced due to a more homogeneous distribution of the laser energy during the material phase change. The proposed synchronized system paves the way for high-speed, high-precision, and large-area laser material processing without stitching errors.     

Effect of the Electron–Phonon Coupling on the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Metallic Bilayers

Systems consisting of metallic layers are commonly used in many applications for microelectronics, data storage, protection coatings, and microelectro-mechanical systems. The physical properties of such systems are strongly determined by the flow of the electron and phonon gases and their interactions. In this study, the effective thermal conductivity of a metal–metal bilayer system is studied using the two-temperature model of heat conduction. By defining the total interfacial thermal resistance, it is shown that the thermal conductivity of the bilayer system depends on the ratio between the thicknesses of the metallic layers and their intrinsic coupling length and it has a simple interpretation as the sum of thermal resistances in series. It is demonstrated that the total interfacial thermal resistance can be minimized by choosing appropriately the thermal and geometrical properties of the component layers. The proposed approach could be useful for thermally characterizing and guiding the design of novel metal–metal-layered systems involved in diverse technological applications.     

Laser and GTAW torch processing of Fe–Cr–B coatings on steel

A comparison has been made of the relationship between microstructure and microhardness developed by surface melting Nanosteel SHS 7170 Fe–Cr–B alloy powder onto a plain carbon steel surface. This powder was initially developed as a high velocity oxyfuel sprayed coating, giving a strength 10 times that of mild steel, and is particularly suitable for surface protection against wear and corrosion. In the present study, the alloy powder was injected into the laser melted surface, while a preplaced powder was melted using the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) technique. The laser track consisted of fine dendrites and needle-like microstructures, which produced a maximum hardness value of over 800 HV, while the GTAW track produced a mixture of equiaxed and columnar grain microstructures with a maximum hardness value of 670 HV. The lower hardness values are considered to be associated with dilution and grain size.     

Effect of Deposition Time on Properties of Ni–Cu Alloy Films Electrodeposited on ITO Coated Glass Substrates

The structural, magnetic, and surface morphological properties of Ni–Cu films electrodeposited on ITO (indium tin oxide) glass substrates at different deposition times ranging between 2 s and 600 s have been investigated. The structure of the films was studied using X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The XRD results showed that all samples have a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. From the XRD patterns, it was also found that the crystallographic structure of the films strongly depends on the deposition time. Compositional analysis of Ni–Cu films carried out by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) indicated that the Ni content within the films increases with increasing deposition time and then almost saturates at deposition time of 600 s. The result of the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements revealed that the saturation magnetization increases with increasing Ni content within the film. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to study the topographic properties of Ni–Cu films. It was found that the surface roughness of Ni–Cu alloy films increases with increasing deposition time. Furthermore, the surface texture was found to be isotropic for all films grown at different deposition times.     

Micro–macro homogenization of granular materials based on the average-field theory of Cosserat continuum

This paper performs further study on the micro–macro homogenization approach of granular materials (Li et al., 2010) based on the advancement of Hill’s lemma for Cosserat continuum (Liu, 2013). Firstly, the average couple stress tensor, expressed as the volume integration of quantities over the representative volume element (RVE) in the average-field theory of Cosserat continuum, is further deduced and expressed in terms of discrete quantities on the discrete particle assembly RVE of granular materials. The expression is also discussed and compared with other typical definitions of the effective couple stress tensor for granular materials in the literature. Then, rate forms of micromechanically based constitutive models consistent with different types of RVE boundary conditions are derived and discussed. Since the presented micro–macro homogenization approach is used, not only the micro–macro energy equivalence is satisfied, but also the microstructure and its evolution can be taken into account in the constitutive formulation with no need of specifying macroscopic phenomenological constitutive model.     

Effect of Si on the Glass Formation and Magnetic Properties of High-Iron Fe–Zr–Si Alloys

High-iron Fe–Zr–Si amorphous ribbons were fabricated through the melt-spun technique. Then, the effects of Si content on the glass-forming ability and magnetic properties of Fe_90?xZr₁₀Si_x (x =?1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10) alloys were investigated. Results showed that the amorphous structure only formed in an alloy composition of 3 at.% Si. Moreover, α-Fe(Si) and Fe₃Zr phase appeared gradually when Si was added. Fe₈₇Zr₁₀Si₃ alloy is a unique amorphous structure in Fe_90?xZr₁₀Si_x ribbons. The peak temperatures of the two crystallization stages were 464 and 600 ^°C. The saturation magnetization (M_s) values of the alloys ranged from 91.2 to 132.3 emu/g, and all had an initial increase before decreasing and their coercivity (H_c) values increased with increased Si content. The Fe₈₇Zr₁₀Si₃ amorphous alloy exhibited a low H_c value of approximately 39.1 A/m, which shows good magnetic properties in the as-quenched state. After annealing, the M_s of the amorphous sample considerably improved, particularly reaching 165.3 emu/g at 600 ^°C.     

Influence of Sn and Bi Additions on the Structures and Wear Properties of Cu–Sn–P–Ce cBN Tools

In this work Sn and Bi were added to Cu–Sn–P–Ce for improving its microstructures and properties. Structures of the three matrices were investigated by XRD, SEM and EDS. The Cu₄₁Sn₁₁ became the main microstructure with some pores, the grinding ratio increased, and the grinding efficiency improved slightly with the addition of Sn to Cu–Sn–P–Ce. Bi was distributed in the form of simple substance, the grinding ratio increased, and the grinding efficiency greatly reduced with the addition of Bi to Cu–Sn–P–Ce.     

Laser shock peening effect on the dislocation transitions and grain refinement of Al–Mg–Si alloy

This paper systematically investigates the effect of laser shock peening without coating parameters on the microstructural evolution, and dislocation configurations induced by ultra-high plastic strains and strain rates. Based on an analysis of optical microscopy, polarized light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy observations and residual stress analysis, the significant influence of laser shock peening parameters due to the effect of plasma generation and shock wave propagation has been confirmed. Although the optical microscopy results revealed no significant microstructural changes after laser shock peening, i.e. no heat effect zone and differences in the distribution of second-phase particles, expressive influence of laser treatment parameters on the laser shock induced craters was confirmed. Moreover, polarized light microscopy results have confirmed the existence of well-defined longish grains up to 455 μm in length in the centre of the plate due to the rolling effect, and randomly oriented smaller grains (20 μm × 50 μm) in the surface due to the static recrystallization effect. Laser shock peening is reflected in an exceptional increase in dislocation density with various configurations, i.e. dislocation lines, dislocation cells, dislocation tangles, and the formation of dense dislocation walls. More importantly, the microstructure is considerably refined due to the effect of strain deformations induced by laser shock peening process. The results have confirmed that dense dislocation structures during ultra-high plastic deformation with the addition of shear bands producing ultra-fine (60–200 nm) and nano-grains (20–50 nm). Furthermore, dislocation density was increased by a factor of 2.5 compared to the untreated material (29 × 10¹³ m^− 2 vs. 12 × 10¹³ m^− 2).     

Influence of Overheating and Cooling Rate on the Structures and Properties of Alloys of the Fe–B System

Materials Science - It is shown that the overheating of a melt by 150°K over the liquidus curve and a cooling rate of 102?104 °K/sec favor the formation of a homogeneous finely...     

Laser surface modification for synthesis of textured bioactive and biocompatible Ca–P coatings on Ti–6Al–4V

A textured calcium phosphate based bio-ceramic coating was synthesized by continuous wave Nd:YAG laser induced direct melting of hydroxyapatite precursor on Ti–6Al–4V substrate. Two different micro-textured patterns (100 μm and 200 μm line spacing) of Ca–P based phases were fabricated by this technique to understand the alignment and focal adhesion of the bone forming cells on these surfaces. X-ray diffraction studies of the coated samples indicated the presence of CaTiO₃, α-Ca₃(PO₄)₂, Ca(OH)₂, TiO₂ (anatase) and TiO₂ (rutile) phases as a result of the intermixing between the precursor and substrate material during laser processing. A two dimensional elemental mapping of the cross-section of the coated samples exhibited the presence of higher phosphorous concentration within the coating and a thin layer of calcium concentration only at the top of the coating. Improved in vitro bioactivity and in vitro biocompatibility was observed for the laser processed samples as compared to the control.     

Effect of Rare Earth and Transition Metal Elements on the Glass Forming Ability of Mechanical Alloyed Al–TM–RE Based Amorphous Alloys

The present work aims to compare the amorphous phase forming ability of ternary and quaternary Al based alloys(Al86Ni8Y6, Al86Ni6Y6Co2, Al86Ni8La6 and Al86Ni8Y4.5La1.5) synthesized via mechanical alloying by varying the composition, i.e. fully or partially replacing rare earth(RE) and transition metal(TM) elements based on similar atomic radii and coordination number. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy study revealed that the amorphization process occurred through formation of various intermetallic phases and nanocrystalline FCC Al. Fully amorphous phase was obtained for the alloys not containing lanthanum, whereas the other alloys containing La showed partial amorphization with reappearance of intermetallic phases attributed to mechanical crystallization. Differential scanning calorimetry study confirmed better thermal stability with wider transformation temperature for the alloys without La.     

Effect of Powder Particle Shape on the Properties of In Situ Ti–TiB Composite Materials Produced by Selective Laser Melting

This work studied the preparation of starting powder mixture influenced by milling time and its effect on the particle morphology(especially the shape) and, consequently, density and compression properties of in situ Ti–Ti B composite materials produced by selective laser melting(SLM) technology. Starting powder composite system was prepared by mixing 95 wt% commercially pure titanium(CP-Ti) and 5wt% titanium diboride(TiB 2) powders and subsequently milled for two different times(i.e. 2 h and 4 h).The milled powder mixtures after 2 h and 4 h show nearly spherical and irregular shape, respectively.Subsequently, the resultant Ti–5 wt% TiB 2 powder mixtures were used for SLM processing. Scanning electron microscopy image of the SLM-processed Ti–Ti B composite samples show needle-shape TiB phase distributed across the Ti matrix, which is the product of an in-situ chemical reaction between Ti and TiB 2during SLM. The Ti–Ti B composite samples prepared from 2 h and 4 h milled Ti–TiB 2 powders show different relative densities of 99.5% and 95.1%, respectively. Also, the compression properties such as ultimate strength and compression strain for the 99.5% dense composite samples is 1421 MPa and 17.8%, respectively, which are superior to those(883 MPa and 5.5%, respectively) for the 95.1% dense sample. The results indicate that once Ti and TiB 2 powders are connected firmly to each other and powder mixture of nearly spherical shape is obtained, there is no additional benefit in increasing the milling time and, instead, it has a negative effect on the density(i.e. increasing porosity level) of the Ti–Ti B composite materials and their mechanical properties.