A Ga-containing and Cu-containing sputtering target has a Ga content of from 30 to 68 at %. The sputtering target contains only CuGa.sub.2 as Ga-containing and Cu-containing intermetallic phase or the proportion by volume of CuGa.sub.2 is greater than the proportion by volume of Cu.sub.9Ga.sub.4. The sputtering target is advantageously produced by spark plasma sintering or cold gas spraying. Compared to Cu.sub.9Ga.sub.4, CuGa.sub.2 is very soft, which aids the production of defect-free sputtering targets having homogeneous sputtering behavior.

A method includes applying a material coating to a surface of a machine component, wherein the material coating is formed from a combination of a hardfacing material, aluminum-containing particles, and a braze material. The method also includes thermally treating the material coating at a temperature to generate an oxide layer comprising aluminum from the aluminum-containing particles, wherein the oxide layer is configured to reduce oxidation of the hardfacing material, and the braze material is configured to facilitate binding between the material coating and the surface of the machine component.