Scientific Advisory Board - Erich Schmid Institute
Scientific Advisory Board - Erich Schmid Institute
Scientific Advisory Board - Erich Schmid Institute
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ERICH SCHMID INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS SCIENCE<br />
Part II: Research Activities – Selected<br />
Highlights<br />
the next pages summarize several main scientific achievements of eSi in 2012. the portfolio<br />
of materials studied at eSi comprises structural materials, such as alloys and steel, materials<br />
for information technology (e.g. metal films on Si or flexible polymer substrates), materials<br />
for energy and high-temperature applications (refractory metals and advanced intermetallics),<br />
and novel bulk “nanomaterials” obtained by severe plastic deformation. the focus in studying<br />
this selection of advanced materials is to understand and predict the micro structure-property<br />
relations at all length scales, with a special emphasis on mechanical properties. most of the<br />
results described below have strong links to several of our 5 research areas, but they are<br />
ascribed in the following to one area only.<br />
Micro- and Nano-Structure Characterization<br />
the two most prominent techniques we are using to study structural properties at the micro and<br />
nano-scale are transmission electron microscopy (tem) and X-ray diffraction (XRd) performed<br />
in laboratory conditions and at synchrotron facilities BeSSY (Berlin), petra iii (Hamburg) and<br />
eSRf (grenoble). in 2012, we have concentrated on the studies of dislocation activities and<br />
storage in small volumes using a tem sample straining stage. We also obtained impressive<br />
results with the new cs-corrected tem which will advance our understanding of ultrahard<br />
coatings. moreover, high-temperature XRd was used to understand the influence of phase<br />
transformations in hard coatings on the residual stress and hardness development. the institute<br />
purchased a new very advanced XRd system SmartLab from Rigaku co. (Japan).<br />
Fig . 1 Left: A typical C S-corrected HRTEM image of the CrN-Cr interface recorded along CrN<br />
[011] direction. A “defective” layer between Cr and CrN exhibits apparent “stripe” features<br />
resulting from the ordered N vacancies. Right: A Cs-corrected STEM image recorded from<br />
the CrN-Cr interface.<br />
<strong>Scientific</strong> RepoRt 2012 page 15
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