Ion beam mixing in the Al/NixAl1−x/Ni system

Thin‐film alloy samples of Al/NixAl1−x/Ni (x=0.75, 0.5, 0.25) were irradiated at room temperature and at 160 °C with 280 and 560 keV Xe ions to a dose of 1.1×1016 Xe ions/cm2. The samples were analyzed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. In the Al/Ni3Al/Ni configuration the Ni3Al layer mixes more strongly with Al than with Ni. In the Al/NiAl/Ni samples, the NiAl layer mixes substantially with both Al and Ni. In the Al/NiAl3/Ni case, the NiAl3 layer mixes only with Ni. The results differ from thermal annealing behavior and are explained in terms of the thermodynamical driving forces present in the different samples.