Research Interests
New concepts regarding microstructures and their relationships to phase transformations in surface modified materials, along with the improvements in selected materials properties these new microstructures can produce, are being investigated in both metals and semiconductors.
Education
Ph.D. Metallurgy, U.C. Berkeley 1966
M.S. Metallurgy, U.C. Berkeley 1960
B.S. Chemical Engineering, U.C. Berkeley 1958
Background and Research
One of the types of prototype systems being employed in these studies are surface modified regions in aluminum in which precipitates of the type AlXZ form, where Z is a selected transition metal and 12 æ x Ñ 3. There have been several new, interesting results to date. One of these has been the discovery of a transformation producing a lamellar, A112Z precipitate structure continuously throughout the surface modified region that occurs over a range of solute concentrations and that nucleates at a grain boundary with the grain boundary then becoming the mobile transformation front. The mechanism of this transformation is continuing to be investigated. It appears that a lamellar precipitate structure in the surface modified region could be formed in many other alloy systems. A lamellar precipitate structure throughout a surface modified region has the potential to enhance the wear resistance of selected metal components, to enhance the electromigration lifetime of metal contacts on silicon microelectronic devices, and to enhance the fatigue life of metal alloys. Another result is that continuous films of A112Z formed in aluminum annealed at different temperatures after implantation with the appropriate maximum solute concentration have been shown to have different microstructures. These different types of microstructures will be characterized. A continuous precipitate film of A112Z has the potential to increase the corrosion resistance of selected aluminum alloys.
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