"Jet Vapor Deposited Aluminum-Aluminum Oxide Nanolaminates"
Novel Techniques in Synthesis and Processing of Advanced Materials, Eds. J. Singh and S.M. Copley, TMS, p. 129, 1995.
The microstructure and mechanical properties of Al/Al2O3 metal-oxide nanolaminates fabricated by a novel Jet Vapor Deposition (JVD) process at substrate temperatures of ~25oC and ~250oC have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nanoindentation methods. The thickness of the oxide layer was held constant between 2 and 5 nm, whilst the Al layer thickness was systematically varied from ~3 to ~50 nm. Continuity of the Al layers was significantly improved when the nanolaminates were deposited at an elevated substrate temperature (~250oC). The yield strength of the nanolaminates with Al layers greater than ~25 nm follows a Hall-Petch type relationship, whereas that of the nanolaminates with Al layers less than ~25 nm is better predicted by a Koehler-Lehoczky strengthening model.