Direct study of structural phase transformation in single crystalline bulk and thin film BaFe2As2.

The ternary iron arsenide compound BaFe2As2 exhibits a structural phase transition from tetragonal to orthorhombic at a temperature of about 140 K. The twin lamellae arising below this transition temperature were studied in undoped single crystalline bulk and epitaxial thin film samples using electron backscatter diffraction in a scanning electron microscope equipped with a helium cryostat. Applying this technique on bulk single crystals a characteristic twin lamella size in the range of 0.1 µm up to a few µm was observed. In contrast, in epitaxially strained thin films the phase transition is not observed at temperatures above 19 K.

Strain induced superconductivity in the parent compound BaFe2As2.

The discovery of superconductivity with a transition temperature, Tc, up to 65 K in single-layer FeSe (bulk Tc=8 K) films grown on SrTiO3 substrates has attracted special attention to Fe-based thin films. The high Tc is a consequence of the combined effect of electron transfer from the oxygen-vacant substrate to the FeSe thin film and lattice tensile strain. Here we demonstrate the realization of superconductivity in the parent compound BaFe2As2 (no bulk Tc) just by tensile lattice strain without charge doping. We investigate the interplay between strain and superconductivity in epitaxial BaFe2As2 thin films on Fe-buffered MgAl2O4 single crystalline substrates. The strong interfacial bonding between Fe and the FeAs sublattice increases the Fe-Fe distance due to the lattice misfit, which leads to a suppression of the antiferromagnetic spin density wave and induces superconductivity with bulk Tc≈10 K. These results highlight the role of structural changes in controlling the phase diagram of Fe-based superconductors.

Effect of microstructure on the mechanical properties of as-cast Ti-Nb-Al-Cu-Ni alloys for biomedical application.

The correlation between the microstructure and mechanical behavior during tensile loading of Ti68.8Nb13.6Al6.5Cu6Ni5.1 and Ti71.8Nb14.1Al6.7Cu4Ni3.4 alloys was investigated. The present alloys were prepared by the non-equilibrium processing applying relatively high cooling rates. The microstructure consists of a dendritic bcc ß-Ti solid solution and fine intermetallic precipitates in the interdendritic region. The volume fraction of the intermetallic phases decreases significantly with slightly decreasing the Cu and Ni content. Consequently, the fracture mechanism in tension changes from cleavage to shear. This in turn strongly enhances the ductility of the alloy and as a result Ti71.8Nb14.1Al6.7Cu4Ni3.4 demonstrates a significant tensile ductility of about 14% combined with the high yield strength of above 820 MPa already in the as-cast state. The results demonstrate that the control of precipitates can significantly enhance the ductility and yet maintaining the high strength and the low Young's modulus of these alloys. The achieved high bio performance (ratio of strength to Young's modulus) is comparable (or even superior) with that of the recently developed Ti-based biomedical alloys.

On the orientations of abnormally grown grains in nanocrystalline Ni and Ni-Fe.

The scanning electron microscopy-based electron backscatter diffraction technique has been used to determine grain orientations of abnormally grown grains upon annealing in nanocrystalline Ni and Ni-20 at.% Fe electrodeposits. The results show that in nanocrystalline Ni and Ni-Fe, the first grown grains that can be detected are 411 oriented with respect to the normal direction (411//ND). Upon annealing, further grain growth occurs and the dominant orientation of the abnormally growing grains changes from 411//ND to 111//ND. Twinning is found to be the mechanism responsible for the orientation change and is for the first time described in connection with abnormal grain growth in nanocrystalline materials. This means that well-known models for the formation of annealing twins (initially introduced in connection with recrystallization) also seem to apply in nanocrystalline materials.