Jens Birch, Igor Abrikosov and Axel Flink (Linköping)
Ulf Jansson, Karin Larsson and Urban Wiklund (Uppsala)
External Partners
Dr. Paul Mayrhofer, Leoben University, Austria (visiting scientist to Linköping)
Prof. Ayat Karimi and Prof. Eric Bergmann, Switzerland (PhD student: Björn Alling
Industry Partners
SECO Tools AB
Scientific Objectives
We will use secondary phase transformations to obtain active or smart materials with functional properties during service of a coating from a controlled adaptation of the structure by the thermal loading. We were the first to demonstrate age hardening and show how it operates by spinodal decomposition in TiAlN coatings under annealing conditions, mimicking the operation of a cutting tool. Self-organized nanostructures are formed in the shape of 1-10 nm cubelets. The objectives are twofold:
Increase the understanding of secondary phase transformations in functional ceramics of the type M-A-X (e.g., M=Ti, A= Al, X=N).
Identify thin film materials systems with a potential for age hardening
Technology Transfer Objectives
1 granted patent for cutting tool applications
Provide TTT-diagrams (Transformation vs Time & Temperature) for best practice
Interaction in one EU project.
Research plan:
Use DFT calculations to identify ternary systems with a large miscibility gap.
Grow films and coatings by magnetron sputtering and cathodic arc deposition.
Process films thermally in cutting applications and analyzed (XRD, TEM, nanoindentation,…) or in situ annealed (XRD, DSC,…)
Model interfaces between phases are studied by analytical electron microscopy and in-situ VT-STM, as well as by DFT with MD simulation.
Simulate thermal treatment from first-principles.
Elaborate on the theory of spinodal decomposition in 2D and 3D
