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Microtribological measurements of a hydrogenated diamondlike carbon film in controlled gaseous environments show that water vapor plays a significant role in the friction coefficient. These experiments reveal an initial high friction transient behavior that does not reoccur even after extended periods of exposure to low partial pressures of [H.sub.2]O and [O.sub.2]. Experiments varying both water vapor pressure and sample temperature show trends of a decreasing friction coefficient as a function of both the decreasing water vapor pressure and the increasing substrate temperature. Theses trends are examined with regard to first order gas-surface interactions. Model fits give activation energies on the order of 40 kJ/mol, which is consistent with water vapor desorption. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3139047] Keywords: gas-surface interactions, humidity, DLC, environment, ultra low friction, adsorption

We describe a correlation between electrical resistivity and grain size for PVD synthesized polycrystalline oxide-hardened metal-matrix thin films in oxide-dilute (<5 vol.% oxide phase) compositions. The correlation is based on the Mayadas-Shatzkes (M-S) electron scattering model, predictive of grain size evolution as a function of composition in the oxide-dilute regime for 2 lm thick Au-ZnO films. We describe a technique to investigate grain boundary (GB) mobility and the thermal stability of GBs based on in situ electrical resistivity measurements during annealing experiments, interpreted using a combination of the M-S model and the Michels et al. model describing solute drag stabilized grain growth kinetics. Using this technique, activation energy and pre-exponential Arrhenius parameter values of Ea=21.6 kJ/mol and Ao=2.3 × 10-17 m2/s for Au- 1 vol.% ZnO and Ea=12.7 kJ/mol and Ao=3.1 × 10-18 m2/s for Au-2 vol.% ZnO were determined. In the oxide-dilute regime, the grain size reduction of the Au matrix yielded a maximum hardness of 2.6 GPa for 5 vol.% ZnO. A combined model including percolation behavior and grain refinement is presented that accurately describes the composition dependent change in electrical resistivity throughout the entire composition range for Au-ZnO thin films. The proposed correlations are supported by microstructural characterization using transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction mapping for grain size determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical resistivity of electron beam codeposited gold and zinc oxide (Au-ZnO) films was investigated over the full composition range. The electrical resistivity was shown to increase monotonically with increasing ZnO content, with three characteristic regimes of behavior associated primarily with (1) grain boundary electron scattering due to grain refinement at ZnO volume fractions below 0.3, (2) percolation theory for ZnO volume fractions at and above the percolation threshold (fc = 0.85), and (3) a transition region between these where it was proposed that resistivity was influenced by the formation of Au-Zn complexes due to an oxygen deficiency in the deposited ZnO. The electrical resistivity of the composite films remained below 100 μΩ cm for ZnO volume fractions below 0.5. A model combining the general effective media equation and Mayadas-Shatzkes grain boundary electron scattering model was shown to generally describe the composition dependence of electrical resistivity for the investigated oxide dispersion hardened metal-matrix composite thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interstitial electron density ρ&#95;{o} is offered as a direct metric for maximum strength in metals, arising from universal properties derived from an electron gas. ρ&#95;{o} sets the exchange-correlation parameter r&#95;{s} in density-functional theory. It holds also for maximum shear strength τ&#95;{max} in polycrystals [M. Chandross and N. Argibay, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 125501 (2020)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.124.125501]. Elastic moduli and τ&#95;{max} for polycrystalline (amorphous) metals are linear with ρ&#95;{o} and melting T&#95;{m} (glass-transition T&#95;{g}) temperature. ρ&#95;{o} or r&#95;{s}, even with rule-of-mixture estimate, predicts relative strength for rapid, reliable selection of high-strength alloys with ductility, as confirmed for elements to steels to complex solid solutions, and validated experimentally.

Heterojunctions of semiconductors and metals are the fundamental building blocks of modern electronics. Coherent heterostructures between dissimilar materials can be achieved by composition, doping, or heteroepitaxy of chemically different elements. Here, we report the formation of coherent single-layer 1H-1T MoS 2 heterostructures by mechanical exfoliation on Au(111), which are chemically homogeneous with matched lattices but show electronically distinct semiconducting (1H phase) and metallic (1T phase) character, with the formation of these heterojunctions attributed to a combination of lattice strain and charge transfer. The exfoliation approach employed is free of tape residues usually found in many exfoliation methods and yields single-layer MoS 2 with millimeter (mm) size on the Au surface. Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) have collectively been employed to elucidate the structural and electronic properties of MoS 2 monolayers on Au substrates. Bubbles in the MoS 2 formed by the trapping of ambient adsorbates beneath the single layer during deposition, have also been observed and characterized. Our work here provides a basis to produce two-dimensional heterostructures which represent potential candidates for future electronic devices.

We present evidence of inverse Hall-Petch behavior for a single-phase high entropy alloy (CoCrFeMnNi) in ultra-high vacuum and show that it is associated with low friction coefficients (~0.3). Grain size measurements by STEM validate a recently proposed dynamic amorphization model that accurately predicts grain size-dependent shear strength in the inverse Hall-Petch regime. Wear rates in the initially soft (coarse grained) material were shown to be remarkably low (~10 -6 mm 3 /N-m), the lowest for any HEA tested in an inert environment where oxidation and the formation of mixed metal-oxide films is mitigated. The combined high wear resistance and low friction are linked to the formation of an ultra-nanocrystalline near-surface layer. The dynamic amorphization model was also used to predict an average high angle grain boundary energy (0.87 J/m 2 ). This value was used to explain cavitation-induced nanoporosity found in the highly deformed surface layer, a phenomenon that has been linked to superplasticity.

We present a theoretical model that predicts the peak strength of polycrystalline metals based on the activation energy (or stress) required to cause deformation via amorphization. Building on extensive earlier work, this model is based purely on materials properties, requires no adjustable parameters, and is shown to accurately predict the strength of four exemplar metals (fcc, bcc, and hcp, and an alloy). This framework reveals new routes for design of more complex high-strength materials systems, such as compositionally complex alloys, multiphase systems, nonmetals, and composite structures.

Nanocrystalline metals offer significant improvements in structural performance over conventional alloys. However, their performance is limited by grain boundary instability and limited ductility. Solute segregation has been proposed as a stabilization mechanism, however the solute atoms can embrittle grain boundaries and further degrade the toughness. In the present study, we confirm the embrittling effect of solute segregation in Pt-Au alloys. However, more importantly, we show that inhomogeneous chemical segregation to the grain boundary can lead to a new toughening mechanism termed compositional crack arrest. Energy dissipation is facilitated by the formation of nanocrack networks formed when cracks arrested at regions of the grain boundaries that were starved in the embrittling element. This mechanism, in concert with triple junction crack arrest, provides pathways to optimize both thermal stability and energy dissipation. A combination of in situ tensile deformation experiments and molecular dynamics simulations elucidate both the embrittling and toughening processes that can occur as a function of solute content.

Recent work suggests that thermally stable nanocrystallinity in metals is achievable in several binary alloys by modifying grain boundary energies via solute segregation. The remarkable thermal stability of these alloys has been demonstrated in recent reports, with many alloys exhibiting negligible grain growth during prolonged exposure to near-melting temperatures. Pt-Au, a proposed stable alloy consisting of two noble metals, is shown to exhibit extraordinary resistance to wear. Ultralow wear rates, less than a monolayer of material removed per sliding pass, are measured for Pt-Au thin films at a maximum Hertz contact stress of up to 1.1 GPa. This is the first instance of an all-metallic material exhibiting a specific wear rate on the order of 10 -9 mm 3 N -1 m -1 , comparable to diamond-like carbon (DLC) and sapphire. Remarkably, the wear rate of sapphire and silicon nitride probes used in wear experiments are either higher or comparable to that of the Pt-Au alloy, despite the substantially higher hardness of the ceramic probe materials. High-resolution microscopy shows negligible surface microstructural evolution in the wear tracks after 100k sliding passes. Mitigation of fatigue-driven delamination enables a transition to wear by atomic attrition, a regime previously limited to highly wear-resistant materials such as DLC., (© 2018 National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

This work demonstrates the role of microstructure in the friction and oxidation behavior of the lamellar solid lubricant molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ). We report on systematic investigations of oxidation and friction for two MoS 2 films with distinctively different microstructures-amorphous and planar/highly-ordered-before and after exposure to atomic oxygen (AO) and high-temperature (250 °C) molecular oxygen. A combination of experimental tribology, molecular dynamics simulations, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and high-sensitivity low-energy ion scattering (HS-LEIS) was used to reveal new insights about the links between structure and properties of these widely utilized low-friction materials. Initially, ordered MoS 2 films showed a surprising resistance to both atomic and molecular oxygens (even at elevated temperature), retaining characteristic low friction after exposure to extreme oxidative environments. XPS shows comparable oxidation of both coatings via AO; however, monolayer resolved compositional depth profiles from HS-LEIS reveal that the microstructure of the ordered coatings limits oxidation to the first atomic layer.