Effect of Au ion irradiation on the surface morphology, microstructure and mechanical properties of AlNbTiZr medium-entropy alloy coatings with various Al content for ATF

• Published in: Surface & coatings technology Vol. 434; p. 128157
• Main Authors: Xin, Hongyang, Yang, Jijun, Zhang, Wei, Yang, Jian, Mao, Jianjun, Teng, Changqing, Kong, Xianggang, Si, Jiaxuan, Xu, Xiyu, Wu, Lu, Wu, Xiaoyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 25.03.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Alloys; Aluminum; Coatings; Crystal structure; Crystallization; Entropy; Fluence; Hardness; Heat treating; Ion irradiation; Mechanical properties; Medium entropy alloys; Medium-entropy alloy coating; Microstructure; Morphology; Nanoindenters; Radiation damage; Ion irradiation; Hardness; Medium-entropy alloy coating; Crystallization
• ISSN: 0257-8972; 1879-3347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2022.128157

The AlNbTiZr medium-entropy alloy (MEA) coatings with different Al content were irradiated by 6 MeV Au-ions. The effect of the irradiation fluence on the surface morphology, microstructure and mechanical properties of the coatings with different Al content were investigated by SEM, XRD, TEM and nano-indenter. The results showed that the surface of coatings became flatter and smoother with increasing ion irradiation fluence. The crystal structure of all the coatings remained stable at lower fluence. However, the crystallization phenomena occurred at higher irradiation fluence and crystallization degree of the coatings decreased with increasing Al content, which the average crystal size was proportional to the irradiation damage level. The irradiation-induced crystallization changed the uniformity of element distribution, and element segregation phenomenon appeared in the Al-containing coating. The change of coatings hardness after irradiation is related to the amount of free volume content introduced by irradiation and the degree of crystallization. All of these results will help us to understand the response of the AlNbTiZr MEA coatings with different Al content under ion irradiation. •The AlNbTiZr medium-entropy alloy (MEA) coatings with different Al content were irradiated by 6 MeV Au-ions.•The crystallization was observed after higher fluence irradiation and crystallization degree of the coatings decreased with increasing Al content.•The mechanical properties of the amorphous coatings can be modulated by controlling the ion irradiation fluence.