Inter-diffusion study of rhodium and tantalum by RBS

The inter-diffusion of rhodium and tantalum has been studied with the goal of synthesizing an alloy acting as a diffusion barrier for high temperature applications. Rh/Ta sandwiched samples were annealed in vacuum at temperature ranging from 800 to 900 °C and from 1000 to 1075 °C. The diffusion profiles were obtained by RBS. They suggest the formation of two clearly different phases in each temperature range considered.