M.-C. De Weerd

Cold welding and fretting tests on quasicrystals and related compounds

This paper reports a vacuum or space related effect, which is referred to as “cold welding”, “adhesion” or “sticking”. This effect is studied for bulk quasicrystal (J.M. Dubois, Useful Quasicrystals (World Scientific, Singapore, 2005)) versus different kinds of counterparts (steel, aluminium, titanium, hard metals). Full series of samples, prepared either by crystal-pulling techniques (single crystals) or by sintering (multi-grain samples) were analysed by fretting tests. Four alloy systems were investigated: Al–Pd–Mn, Al–Cr–Fe–B, Al–Cu–B and Al–Cu–Fe–B, with different crystallographic structures and nominal compositions. These materials, especially icosahedral phases, exhibit the absence of cold-welding in vacuum versus certain steels.

Surface energy of complex ? and simple ? metallic compounds as derived from friction test in vacuum

This article attempts to understand better the origin of low friction and zero solid–solid adhesion observed on quasicrystals placed in vacuum. We present an ensemble of experimental data that allows us on the one hand to estimate the true surface energy of unoxidized quasicrystals and approximants and on the other hand to point out a correlation with electronic densities of states.

Complex metallic alloys in the Ce?Au?Sn system: a study of the atomic and electronic structures

We report the formation of a new stable quasicrystal approximant in the Ce–Au–Sn system. The crystalline structure of the Ce15Au65Sn20 compound is investigated by x-ray diffraction and is found to be of similar structure type to the Zn17Sc3 1/1 approximant. Large clusters with icosahedral symmetry are located at the node of the body-centred cubic (bcc) unit cell (a = 1.5190 nm) containing 161 atoms. We have used transmission electron microscopy to emphasize the relationship of this new compound with the icosahedral space group. The valence band has been investigated by photoemission spectroscopy and shows an indication of Van Hove singularities in the density of states, characteristic of quasicrystalline and related approximant phases. We expect similar 1/1 approximant and possibly icosahedral phases to be discovered in the new RE–Au–Sn systems (where RE is rare earth). We also found a hexagonal phase with a large unit cell possessing local icosahedral order, co-existing as a minority phase.

Surface structures of In-Pd intermetallic compounds. I. Experimental study of In thin films on Pd(111) and alloy formation

A combination of experimental methods was used to study the structure of In thin films deposited on the Pd(111) surface and the alloying behavior. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and scanning tunneling microscopy results indicate that surface alloying takes place at room temperature. Below 2 monolayer equivalents (MLEs), the LEED patterns show the formation of three rotational domains of InPd(110) of poor structural quality on top of the Pd(111) substrate. Both core-levels and valence band XPS spectra show that the surface alloy does not yet exhibit the electronic structure characteristic of the 1:1 intermetallic compound under these conditions. Annealing the 1 MLE thin film up to 690 K yields to a transition from a multilayer InPd near-surface intermetallic phase to a monolayer-like surface alloy exhibiting a well ordered (√3×√3) R30(∘) superstructure and an estimated composition close to In2Pd3. Annealing above 690 K leads to further In depletion and a (1 × 1) pattern is recovered. The (√3×√3) R30(∘) superstructure is not observed for thicker films. Successive annealing of the 2 MLE thin film leads the progressive disappearance of the InPd diffraction spots till a sharp (1 × 1) pattern is recovered above 690 K. In the high coverage regime (from 4 to 35 MLE), the formation of three rotational domains of a bcc-In7Pd3 compound with (110) orientation is observed. This In-rich phase probably grows on top of interfacial InPd(110) domains and is metastable. It transforms into a pure InPd(110) near-surface intermetallic phase in a temperature range between 500 and 600 K depending on the initial coverage. At this stage, the surface alloy exhibits core-level chemical shifts and valence band (VB) spectra identical to those of the 1:1 InPd intermetallic compound and resembling Cu-like density of states. Annealing at higher temperatures yields to a decrease of the In concentration in the near-surface region to about 20 at.% and a (1 × 1) LEED pattern is recovered.