Annealing-induced amorphization in a sputtered glass-forming film: In-situ transmission electron microscopy observation

✍ Scribed by Jinn P. Chu; Chiu-Yen Wang; L.J. Chen; Qi Chen

• Book ID: 104094961
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 842 KB
• Volume: 205
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0257-8972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2010.10.065

✦ Synopsis

The annealing-induced amorphization of a sputtered glass-forming Cu 51 Zr 42 Al 4 Ti 3 thin film has been clarified by in-situ transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with ex-situ atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. Upon heating of the film at low temperatures, nanocrystallization and growth of metastable sputtered crystallites occur in the amorphous matrix. Heated to 438 °C, within the supercooled liquid region (ΔT), the film becomes fully amorphous. At higher temperatures above ΔT, i.e. 525 °C, crystalline Cu 10 Zr 7 and AlTi 2 phases appear as a result of crystallization. The annealing-induced nanocrystallization and amorphization appear to be rather general and applicable to a large number of systems.