Uniaxially oriented nickel aluminum superalloy films sputtered with in situ heating

We report uniaxially oriented nickel aluminum (NiAl) films grown by DC magnetron sputtering under in situ heating. The films self-organize in (110) orientation with relatively low surface roughness and tight grain boundaries in columnar structure. The electrical carrier concentration and resistivity are on the order of 10(21) cm(-3) and 10(-5) omega center dot cm, respectively. The plasmonic performance, as indicated by the dielectric function, is comparable to that of a NiAl single crystal and exceeds those of conventional refractory materials (molybdenum, tungsten, titanium nitride) at visible to NIR wavelengths. This work paves the way to superalloy-based plasmonic nanostructures for photothermal energy applications.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates the growth of uniaxially oriented nickel aluminum (NiAl) films with excellent plasmonic performance under in-situ heating conditions, making them promising for applications in photothermal energy.