Preparation of rare-earth ytterbium-doped Zr-based amorphous alloy thin film by co-sputtering

Abstract:

The practical application of Zr-based amorphous alloys is hindered by the brittleness of the material and the harsh preparation conditions, which are closely related to its lack of slip shear band and limited amorphous forming ability. Therefore, the rare earth ytterbium (Yb) doped Zr-based amorphous alloy thin film was successfully prepared by magnetron co-sputtering, using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X Test methods, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and contact angle tester have studied the relationship between the amorphous forming ability and film properties of (Zr₄₈Cu₄₄Al₈)_1-xYb_x (x?at%) alloy and the rare earth doping concentration. The results show that the alloy system has the strongest amorphous forming ability when the doped Yb atom concentration is 9.37 at%. With the increase of Yb sputtering power, the pre peak at low angle gradually disappears, and the film layer evolves from single-phase Zr based amorphous to dual-phase amorphous, especially when the power is greater than 50 W, a new amorphous diffraction peak appears in XRD, and the diffraction peak intensity increases with the increase of power. Therefore, the best doping power for obtaining a single-phase Zr-based amorphous film layer is 10 W, and the rare earth elements in the film layer are uniformly distributed. At the same time, the surface roughness of the amorphous film appears to be an extreme point with the increase of sputtering power of Yb target, and the corresponding contact angle of the film is 104.9 ° at 30 W, showing hydrophobic property. Therefore, the rare earth Yb doping has a significant effect on the Zr-based amorphous forming ability and film properties. Keywords: amorphous alloy; rare earth alloying; ytterbium; magnetron sputtering ; composition design