Tribometric optical and electrical properties of sputtered quasicrystalline

Tribometric measurements on as-deposited sputtered AlCuFe films are performed using an oscillating pin-on-flat tribometer located within a high vacuum chamber. The coefficient of friction (COF) is measured as a function of temperature between room temperature and 200 degrees C in vacuum as the flat oscillates relative to the pin at an average sliding speed of 3-4 mm/sec. The COF for all AlCuFe films studied was about 0.5 at room temperature and about 0. 25 at 200 degrees C. The reflectance of as deposited and annealed AlCuFe films has been measured across a wavelength range from 0.28 to 26.0 microns. The as-deposited reflectance increases from 0.6 at 1 micron to 0.85 at 20 microns, whereas the reflectance of the annealed film is about 0.6 across the entire wavelength range. The resistivity of an as-deposited film, as measured with a 4-point probe, is about 0.4 milliohm cm, whereas after it is annealed into the icosahedral phase, the resistivity increases almost a factor of four to 1.5 milliohm cm.