Mechanical properties and microstructures of metal/ceramic microlaminates: Part I. Nb/MoSi₂ systems

Artificial multilayers, or microlaminates, composed of alternating layers of Nb and MoSi₂ of equal thickness were synthesized by d.c., magnetron sputtering. Four different modulation wavelengths, λ, were studied: 7, 11, 20, and 100 nm. The compositions, periodicities, and microstructures of the microlaminates were characterized by Auger electron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Structural characterization revealed that the as-deposited Nb layers are polycrystalline, while the MoSi₂ layers are amorphous. The hardnesses and elastic moduli of the films were measured using nanoindentation techniques. Neither a supermodulus nor a superhardness effect could be identified in the range of wavelengths investigated; for each of the microlaminates, both the hardness and modulus were found to fall between the bounds set by the properties of the monolithic Nb and MoSi₂ films. Nevertheless, a modest but a measurable increase in both hardness and modulus with decreasing wavelength was observed, thus indicating that behavior cannot be entirely described by a simple rule-of-mixtures. The hardness was found to vary linearly with Δ^−1/2 in a manner similar to the Hall–Petch relationship. Annealing the microlaminates at 800 °C for 90 min produces significant increases in hardness and modulus due to chemical interaction of the layers.