Controlling properties via microstructural lengthscales at surfaces and in bulk materials

材料加工技术已经发展到可以从原子尺度开始控制的程度。有了这种程度的控制，就有能力高度调整材料性能，以满足个别应用的需求。实现这种结构和性能控制的一种方法是物理气相沉积（PVD）。通过PVD技术，可以实现其他技术无法实现的微结构和材料。例如，可以实现具有非常高密度的内部界面的材料，表现出其他途径无法实现的强度和延展性的组合。PVD技术的发展使其在冶金产品（如金属薄板）的连续镀膜方面的应用越来越有吸引力。例如，在欧洲，现在有能够处理全尺寸钢板的工业PVD涂层线。这一建议侧重于合金在金属基底上的沉积，使沉积的微观结构尺度在几纳米量级。这是建立在最近对合金涂层的观察基础上的，通过结合高密度的生长断层和/或孪晶，合金涂层具有综合强度和延展性。广泛的目标是提高我们对塑性和微观结构尺度之间基本关系的认识，同时研究这种涂层在冶金应用中的潜力。从实际的角度来看，这项工作将涉及到商业上相关的金属合金的沉积，从而产生与底层板材的化学成分相同或非常相似的硬表面。这种技术可以在加拿大金属工业中有许多应用，这一点很重要，因为加拿大在开发这种技术用于金属板材方面落后于欧洲和亚洲。在这方面，应在重新分配委员会提案1“在加拿大资源工业中应用新技术”的框架内审议该提案。

Materials processing technologies have advanced to the point where control now begins at the atomic scale.  With this degree of control comes the ability to highly tune material properties to meet the demands of individual applications.  One method to achieve such control over structure and properties is physical vapour deposition (PVD).  Via PVD technologies it is possible to achieve microstructures and materials impossible via other techniques.  For example, it is possible to achieve materials with very high densities of internal interfaces exhibiting combinations of strength and ductility unachievable by other routes.Development of PVD technology has brought it to the point where it is becoming increasingly attractive for application in continuous coating of metallurgical products, e.g. metallic sheet.  For example in Europe there are now industrial PVD coating lines capable of handling full sized steel sheet.  This proposal focuses on the deposition of alloys on to metallic substrates, such that the microstructural scale of the deposit is on the order of a few nanometers.  This builds on recent observations of alloy coatings with combined strength and ductility via the incorporation of high densities of growth faults and/or twins.  The broad goal is to advance our knowledge on the fundamental relationship between plasticity and microstructural scale, while examining the potential for the use of such coatings in metallurgical applications.From a practical point of view, this work will involve the deposition of commercially relevant metallic alloys, leading to the production of hard surfaces with chemistries the same as, or very similar to, the chemistry of the underlying sheet.  Such technology could have numerous applications within the Canadian metals industry, important given that Canada lags behind Europe and Asia in developing this technology for application to sheet metal.  In this context the proposal should be considered within the framework of the Reallocation Committee's  Proposal 1 " Application of New Technologies in Canadian Resource Industries".