Spatially resolved intermetallic reaction of Ni3Al by laser interference structuring

Some disadvantages of intermetallic compounds are their lack of plasticity, the inferior capacity of anti-creeping, and the environment-sensitive brittleness. In this work, the intermetallic reaction of Ni and Al was driven in a spatially resolved manner, namely by the laser interference pattern. Through laser interference, spatially varied temperature distribution can be easily obtained on the surface of the to be structured samples. Typical patterns given here include two dimensional linear array and three-dimensional dot array; the geometrical parameter of these patterns can be easily adjusted by laser parameters. Thus intermetallic Ni3Al was developed in the form of dot array or line array, so as to get a thin film with alternative hard and soft properties on its surface. This can be a new way to solve the problems of plasticity and brittleness for the intermetallic compounds.