The effect of 1000 °C vacuum annealing on the structure and hardness of epitaxial Mo/NbN superlattice thin films was studied. The intensity of superlattice satellite peaks, measured by x-ray diffraction, decreased during annealing while new peaks corresponding to a MoNbN ternary phase appeared. The results are consistent with the Mo–Nb–N phase diagram, which shows no mutual solubility between Mo, NbN, and MoNbN. Even after 3-h anneals and a loss of most of the superlattice peak intensity, the room-temperature hardness was the same as for as-deposited superlattices. The retained hardness suggests that a residual nanocomposite structure is retained even after the formation of the ternary structure.

The structural changes of carbon nanotubes induced by high pressure and high temperature were investigated by means of x-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that, with increasing pressure and temperature, the lattice constant d002 of tubes shortens, and then tubes collapse into tapelike ones; at the same time the C–C bonds at high curvature break, which lead the tapelike tubes to break into graphite sheets as diamond crystallization centers. Compared with graphite, the diamond particles from carbon nanotubes have many defects as the trace of tubes.

Hydrogenated diamondlike carbon (a-C:H DLC) films were prepared on different substrates by using C2H2–Ar plasma immersion ion processing (PIIP), and their bonding structure was modified by changing deposition parameters of the chamber pressure and the gas composition. The influence of the bonding structure on the properties of the DLC films was investigated by using ion-beam analysis techniques and Raman, infrared, and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopies and by analyzing the measured properties. The increases in density, hardness, and refractive index were found to correlate with the increase of the sp3-bonded structure and the concurrent decrease of both the C–H bonds and the average size of sp2-bonded domains in the films. An optimal combination of optical and mechanical properties was highly dependent on the hydrogen status existing in DLC films that can be adjusted by means of modulation of the synthesis parameters. The prepared DLC films exhibited desirable properties, which included a hardness above 28 GPa, a density above 2.3 g cm−3, a refractive index above 1.94, and band gap energies in the range of 1.8–1.85 eV.

A two-color array pyrometer was used to investigate morphological developments on the surface of materials undergoing self-propagating high-temperature reactions. Time sequences of temperature spatial profiles during wave propagation were found to be complex in their nature and dynamics. They contain features that are interpreted in terms of morphological changes during the process. These features include formation of cracks or voids, expansion of the sample, and formation of droplets of metals on the surface. The use of the array pyrometer for determination of the activation energy of the combustion reaction between Zr and NiO is reported.