Mechanical and tribological properties of AlCuFe quasicrystal and Al(Si)CuFe approximant thin films

Multilayered thin films of Al/Cu/Fe have been prepared by magnetron sputtering and annealed into quasicrystalline and approximant phases on Al2O3 and Si substrates, respectively. The nanomechanical and nanotribological properties, such as hardness, elastic modulus, friction, and toughness, have been measured using a triboindenter and analytical methods. The approximant phase was proved to be slightly harder than the quasicrystalline phase with a...