Production of free standing Cu-Al intermetallics by cathodic arc plasma treatment

► A new approach for bulk Cu-Al compound production. ► Total alloying of copper foils with aluminum using cathodic arc plasma treatment. ► Intermetallics on the copper rich side of the binary system. ► Increase of hardness with the increase of aluminum content of the intermetallic. ► Possibility of production of other Intermetallics and quasi crystals.