Structure and electrical conductivity of Ti-Zr-Ni films of quasicrystalline and related crystalline phases

The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity in the temperature range from 4.4 to 300 K for Ti41Zr41Ni18 (at.%) thin coatings of various crystal perfection and phase compositions has been investigated. The films were deposited by the magnetron sputtering method. The following vacuum annealing in various modes provided several combinations of the film phases such as 1/1 and 2/1 crystal-approximant phases, the quasicrystalline icosahedral phase, Laves (Ti,Zr)2Ni phase and α-Ti(Zr) solid solution phase. The structure and composition of the films before and after annealing were studied in detail by X-ray diffractometry and cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Samples with predominant amorphous, quasi-crystalline, and approximant 2/1 phases have a temperature coefficient of resistance less than zero, while samples dominated by crystalline phases exhibit the characteristic metallic conductivity. For the quasicrystalline Ti41Zr41Ni18 film, the temperature dependence of the electrical resistance turned out to be similar to that of bulk samples with the composition Ti40Zr40Ni20. A significant effect of the presence of phases with metallic conduction on the overall conductivity of the coating is described. The electrical resistance of the 2/1 approximant phase with a low content of the additional Laves phase in the film has an almost constant value over the entire temperature range under study.