Interfacial structure of V 2AlC thin films deposited on [formula omitted]-sapphire

Abstract

Local epitaxy between V 2 AlC and sapphire without intentionally or spontaneously formed seed layers was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Our ab initio calculations suggest that the most stable interfacial structure is characterized by the stacking sequence …C–V–Al–V//O–Al…, exhibiting the largest work of separation for the configurations studied and hence strong interfacial bonding. It is proposed that a small misfit accompanied by strong interfacial bonding enable the local epitaxial growth of V 2 AlC on ( 1 1 2 ¯ 0 ) -sapphire.