Fabrication of Mo–Cu composites by a diffusion-rolling procedure

•The effects open new avenues of processing refractory metal by plastic deformation.•Ultrathin Cu–Mo–Cu sheet and Mo–Cu alloy were fabricated by this procedure.•After rolling, the interfacial strength of diffusion bonded Cu–Mo–Cu sheet was enhanced.•HR-TEM revealed that atomic-level interdiffusion of Mo and Cu was present.

A plastic deformation approach to Mo matrix composites remains a longstanding challenge in the processing of refractory metal. Toward this objective, we explored a selective fabrication of the diffusion-rolling procedure. With diffusion bonding initially, a primary sandwich sheet was achieved. The interfacial strength of Mo/Cu was enhanced by the plastic deformation after rolling. Ultrathin Cu–Mo–Cu sheet and Mo–Cu alloy sheet with Cu matrix containing distributed uniformly fibrous Mo were fabricated. HR-TEM analysis revealed that atomic-level interdiffusion of Mo and Cu was present at the interface. Therefore, it is concluded that the diffusion-rolling procedure can be potentially employed as a joining method for the fabrication of Mo–Cu composites.