Epitaxial growth of fcc Cr on Au(100).

Abstract

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction and anomalous dispersion measurements of 25A Cr layers epitaxially grown on (100) Au surfaces indicate the presence of fcc Cr domains, while extended x-ray absorption fine-structure spectra are consistent with the usual bcc phase of Cr. Together these data suggest that the fcc phase is a major fraction of the larger epitaxial Cr domains, but that most Cr atoms are in a bcc environment with much smaller domain sizes. This unusual, epitaxially stabilized fcc Cr structure may be related to previously reported low-temperature resistance anomalies.