Interfacial diffusion effect on phase transitions in Al/Mn multilayered thin films

Thin films of Al and Mn multilayers were synthesized using thermal evaporation under high vacuum conditions. The whole film thickness containing three bilayers of Al and Mn is about 120 nm. The global concentration of the samples was varied between 10 and 46.5 at.% Mn, by changing the thickness of the bilayer. The as-evaporated samples were heat treated at different temperatures (473, 623, 823 and 873 K) for 2 and 8 h to investigate the interfacial diffusion induced phase transformations in the multilayered thin films. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been mainly used to characterize the crystalline structure of a variety of phases revealed on annealing, such as μ, λ and φ phases up to 823 K, δ phase at 823 K and T6 phase at 873 K. The occurrence of a variety of structures on annealing has been attributed to the interfacial reactions at the Al–Mn bilayers, and, therefore, the global composition of the composite films is not significant during the process of phase transformations. The crystallographic relationships of Al–Mn approximant structures of the decagonal quasicrystal are discussed to understand the evolution and stability of the T6 phase at high temperature.