Cr-Nb nano-multilayered films with various modulation wavelengths A are prepared by e-gun evaporation and their mechanical properties are investigated. Cr and Nb both have bcc structures with large differences in latt...Cr-Nb nano-multilayered films with various modulation wavelengths A are prepared by e-gun evaporation and their mechanical properties are investigated. Cr and Nb both have bcc structures with large differences in lattice constants and Young＇s modulus, which are supposed to favour modulus enhancement. Nevertheless, nano-indention measurements show no enhancement for the modulus and a slight decrease for the hardness with decreasing A down to 5 nm. This is mainly due to counter-contribution to modulus from adjacent layers subjected to reverse strains, in agreement with recent theoretical study, while the decrease of hardness arises from grain boundary sliding. Interestingly, at A = 3 nm, the hardness of the film has an increase of 44% relative to the value of a rule of mixture, owing to the emergence of a new phase for reconciling the structure difference at the interfaces.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 50471010 and 50531040, and the Programme for New Century Excellent Talents in University, Ministry of Education of China.
文摘Cr-Nb nano-multilayered films with various modulation wavelengths A are prepared by e-gun evaporation and their mechanical properties are investigated. Cr and Nb both have bcc structures with large differences in lattice constants and Young＇s modulus, which are supposed to favour modulus enhancement. Nevertheless, nano-indention measurements show no enhancement for the modulus and a slight decrease for the hardness with decreasing A down to 5 nm. This is mainly due to counter-contribution to modulus from adjacent layers subjected to reverse strains, in agreement with recent theoretical study, while the decrease of hardness arises from grain boundary sliding. Interestingly, at A = 3 nm, the hardness of the film has an increase of 44% relative to the value of a rule of mixture, owing to the emergence of a new phase for reconciling the structure difference at the interfaces.
