Nanostructured Thin Film Metallic GLASSes with superior mechanical/Electrical properties – EGLASS

Thin Film Metallic Glasses (TFMGs) are an emerging class of materials, with the potential to realize exceptional combinations of mechanical and electrical properties so far unachievable by conventional crystalline alloys. Specifically, TFMGs are characterized by the lack of long-range atomic periodicity together with the absence of defects common to crystalline materials, resulting in outstanding mechanical properties and metallic electrical conductivity and making them interesting candidates within the growing domain of stretchable electronics. Despite these potential applications, the synthesis of advanced TFMGs with engineered microstructure and the understanding of their mechanical/electrical properties is barely tackled, requiring the development of novel strategies for their synthesis and cutting-edge techniques for sub-micrometer scale characterization.

In this context, the EGLASS project aims to develop advanced TFMGs with tailored nanoscale design such as interfaces with large free-volume, cluster-assembled structures, multilayers and amorphous films with embedded nanocrystals resulting in outstanding combination of mechanical/electrical properties. Cutting-edge in situ characterization techniques including compression of micropillars and measurement of local electrical properties combined with advanced structural characterization (HRTEM/APT) will be employed to grasp the fundamental physical behaviour and understand the connection between the structure and mechanical/electrical properties. The project will merge the unique expertise of LSPM (sputtering deposition and in situ mechanical characterization, Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations) and KIT (advanced synthesis routes, structural/electrical characterization) fostering the application of TFMGs as future materials for stretchable electronics.

The joint French-German team merges the recognized expertise in different fields of materials science and their deep knowledge of metallic glasses and thin films. In a close cooperation, the teams will investigate the following fundamental issues of TFMGs: (i) synthesis of novel TFMGs architectures, (ii) microscale mechanical/electrical properties, (iii) relation composition-microstructure-mechanical/electrical properties focusing on key parameters to increase mechanical properties and electrical conductivity, (iv) use of TFMGs for stretchable electronics combining together adhesion, stretchability, conductivity.