H + processing of Ni/Al multilayer structures

Abstract

The method of heat transfer in low pressure weakly ionized hydrogen plasma was used for the thermal processing of samples of an Ni/Al multilayer structure on well polished silicon substrates. The samples were exposed to hydrogen plasma under different conditions. The sample temperature increased typically at a rate of 10 °C s −1, remained constant for several minutes, and decreased at a rate of 10 °C s −1. The steady temperature was between 300 °C and 1000 °C. The samples were analyzed using Auger electron spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. The results show that the coating obtained after thermal processing is a mixture of nickel, aluminum and nickel aluminides, different from NiAl binary alloy. At high temperatures, evaporation of aluminum from the coating was observed.