The effect of annealing treatment on microstructure and shape memory behavior of Ti-Ta-Zr thin films

Ti-Ta-Zr thin films are considered to be promising high-temperature shape memory materials with operation temperature above 100 °C. The effects of annealing treatment on microstructure and shape memory behavior of Ti-Ta-Zr thin films were investigated. The Ti-Ta-Zr thin films under different annealing conditions were all turned out to be α″ phase at room temperature while the microstructures were distinct. The shape memory effect increased with the decreasing of annealing temperature with the maximum shape memory recovery rate of 65% after annealing at 550 °C for 2 min. When the grain size is 8 nm, shape memory effect disappeared.