Low-temperature diffusion bonding of pure aluminum

1 keV argon ion beam was employed to remove the oxide film of pure aluminum before diffusion bonding. A sound joint of pure aluminum was obtained by ion activation-assisted diffusion bonding at the low temperature of 350 °C, while the high-quality joining of pure aluminum was infeasible by conventional diffusion bonding at the temperature lower than 500 °C. The residual oxide film ratios of joints decreased with the increase of ion cleaning time. When the specimens were cleaned for 120 min, the joint with the maximum tensile strength of 62.3 MPa and the elongation of 14.1 % was obtained. The argon ion beam etching surface treatment provides a new route for the low-temperature diffusion bonding. The reliable diffusion bonded joint of pure aluminum indicates that low-temperature diffusion bonding is feasible for bulk materials, especially for materials with the outstanding plasticity.