Study by optical emission spectroscopy of a physical vapour deposition process for the synthesis of complex AlCuFe(B) coatings

We investigate the formation of complex Al–Cu metallic phases by magnetron dc sputtering of elemental targets followed by low temperature annealing. We show that all stable low temperature phases of the Al–Cu system can be grown this way and suggest that some of these phases could be used as an interfacial layer to improve the adhesion of quasicrystalline AlCuFe coatings on metal substrate. Then we introduce optical emission spectroscopy as a tool to monitor the composition of thin films obtained by sputtering Al63Cu25Fe12 and Al59.5Cu25.3Fe12.2B3 targets. This method should improve the synthesis of complex metallic alloy phases as new coating materials of industrial interest.