First-principles study of the Al(001)-Al3Nb(001) interfacial properties

The adhesion, interfacial energy and bonding on fcc-Al(001)/D022-Al3Nb(001) interface were investigated using density functional calculations. Considering different terminations of Al3Nb(001) (Al+Nb-terminated and Al-terminated) and stacking sites (top-, bridge- and center-sites), six Al(001)/Al3Nb(001) models were calculated. For the models with same stacking site, Al+Nb-terminated model has larger work of adhesion (Wad) than the Al-terminated one. For the models with same termination, the work of adhesion increases, and the interface energy decreases as the order of center-sited, bridge-sited and top-sited. Al+Nb-terminated-center-sited and Al-terminated-center-sited models are more stable among six models. The interfacial bonding was discussed with analysis of valence electron density distribution and partial density of states (PDOS). The bonding is mainly contributed from Al-Nb covalent bonds and Al-Al metallic interactions.