Influence of substrate temperature on phase formation in Al-Cr thin films

Abstract

Thin films (of the order of nm) of Al-Cr alloys were prepared by successive depositions by an electron gun in a vacuum chamber. Three A1 and two Cr layers, of thicknesses as to yield the final composition, were deposited on both hot (350 7deg;C and 440 °C) and cold (70 °C and 108 °C) substrates and the phases formed were characterized in each case by X-ray diffraction and TEM observations, both in bright and in dark field conditions. The results show that on the hot substrates, Bragg peaks that do not correspond to any reported crystalline or quasi-crystalline phase appear. Both the samples on cold substrates and those heated afterwards showed an amorphous structure by X-ray diffractomery but TEM demonstrated the presence of tiny faulted crystallites, with the same Bragg reflections than those deposited on hot substrates. The results show that, for the composition range studied, a new phase not reported before appears and the substrate temperature only produces crystallite growth, not the formation of new phases.