Combinatorial Synthesis and High-Throughput Characterization of Microstructure and Phase Transformation in Ni-Ti-Cu-V Quaternary Thin-Film Library

Ni-Ti-based shape memory alloys(SMAs)have found widespread use in the last 70 years,but improving their functional stability remains a key quest for more robust and advanced applications.Named for their ability to retain their processed shape as a result of a reversible martensitic transformation,SMAs are highly sensitive to compositional variations.Alloying with ternary and quaternary elements to finetune the lattice parameters and the thermal hysteresis of an SMA,therefore,becomes a challenge in materials exploration.Combinatorial materials science allows streamlining of the synthesis process and data management from multiple characterization techniques.In this study,a composition spread of Ni-Ti-Cu-V thin-film library was synthesized by magnetron co-sputtering on a thermally oxidized Si wafer.Composition-dependent phase transformation temperature and microstructure were investigated and determined using high-throughput wavelength dispersive spectroscopy,synchrotron X-ray diffraction,and temperature-dependent resistance measurements.Of the 177 compositions in the materials library,32 were observed to have shape memory effect,of which five had zero or near-zero thermal hysteresis.These compositions provide flexibility in the operating temperature regimes that they can be used in.A phase map for the quaternary system and correlations of functional properties are discussed w让h respect to the local microstructure and composition of the thin-film library.

Amorphous nonstoichiometric oxides with tunable room-temperature ferromagnetism and electrical transport

Material functionalities strongly depend on the stoichiometry,crystal structure,and homogeneity.Here we demonstrate an approach of amorphous nonstoichiometric inhomogeneous oxides to realize tunable ferromagnetism and electrical transport at room temperature.In order to verify the origin of the ferromagnetism,we employed a series of structural,chemical,and electronic state characterizations.Combined with electron microscopy and transport measurements,synchrotron-based grazing incident wide angle X-ray scattering,soft X-ray absorption and circular dichroism clearly reveal that the roomtemperature ferromagnetism originates from the In0.23Co0.77O1-v,amorphous phase with a large tunable range of oxygen vacancies.The room-temperature ferromagnetism is tunable from a high saturation magnetization of 500 emu cm-3 to below 25 emu cm-3,with the evolving electrical resistivity from5×103μΩ cm to above 2.5×105 μΩ cm.Inhomogeneous nano-crystallization emerges with decreasing oxygen vacancies,driving the system towards non-ferromagnetism and insulating regime.Our work unfolds the novel functionalities of amorphous nonstoichiometric inhomogeneous oxides,which opens up new opportunities for developing spintronic materials with superior magnetic and transport properties.