Abstract
Ni thin films are prepared on Cr, V, and Nb underlayers with bcc structure formed on MgO(100) single-crystal substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The growth behavior and the crystallographic properties are investigated by in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction and pole-figure X-ray diffraction. Cr(100) and V(100) single-crystal underlayers grow epitaxially on the substrates, whereas an Nb epitaxial_underlayer consisting of two bcc(110) variants is formed on the MgO(100) substrate. Metastable crystals nucleate on the Cr and the V underlayers, where the metastable hcp structure is stabilized through heteroepitaxial growth. With increasing the film thickness, the hcp structure starts to transform into more stable fcc structure by atomic displacement parallel to the hcp(0001) close-packed plane. The resulting films are consisting of mixtures of hcp and fcc crystals. On the other hand, only the formation of fcc crystal is recognized for the Ni film grown on Nb(110) underlayer.
Highlights
Applications of 3d ferromagnetic transition metal thin films with metastable crystallographic structures are recently expected to yield new possibilities in the development of magnetic devices
Epitaxial thin film growth has been investigated for 3d ferromagnetic transition metals by employing various single-crystal substrates or underlayers [3]–[6], and it has been shown that magnetic thin films with metastable crystal structures can be prepared [7, 8]
Ni epitaxial films with metastable bcc structure have been formed on GaAs substrates [9]–[11], whereas metastable hcp-Ni epitaxial films have been prepared on MgO [12, 13], Au [14, 15], Cr [16], and Ru [17] materials
Summary
Applications of 3d ferromagnetic transition metal thin films with metastable crystallographic structures are recently expected to yield new possibilities in the development of magnetic devices. Ni epitaxial films with metastable bcc structure have been formed on GaAs substrates [9]–[11], whereas metastable hcp-Ni epitaxial films have been prepared on MgO [12, 13], Au [14, 15], Cr [16], and Ru [17] materials. These metastable crystals transformed into more stable fcc structure during film preparation processes and these films generally include a large volume of fcc phase. Formations of Ni epitaxial films with metastable bcc [10, 11] and hcp [15]–[17] structures were investigated and their transformation processes from metastable structures to more stable fcc structure were discussed
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