A novel intermetallic alloy diffusion bonding procedure is being developed. The innovative
aspect relies on the use of sputtered nanometallic multilayers made up of the elements
present in the bulk intermetallics to enhance the bonding mechanisms. For this purpose a
deep knowledge of the multilayer thin films is required, focusing on thermal phase stability
and grain size evolution. γ-TiAl was selected for this study and Ti/Al multilayer thin films with
nanometric period (Λ= 4nm) were deposited onto Ti–(45–49) Al–(3–2) Nb–2Cr (at.%) …