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Model for electron-beam-induced crystallization of amorphous Me–Si–C (Me = Nb or Zr) thin films

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Abstract

We use transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for in situ studies of electron-beam-induced crystallization behavior in thin films of amorphous transition metal silicon carbides based on Zr (group 4 element) and Nb (group 5). Higher silicon content stabilized the amorphous structure while no effects of carbon were detected. Films with Nb start to crystallize at lower electron doses than the Zr-containing ones. During the crystallization, equiaxed MeC grains are formed in all samples with larger grains for ZrC (∼5 nm) compared to NbC (∼2 nm). The phenomenon of self-terminating crystallization at a dimension of 2–5 nm is explained by segregation of Si that is expelled from growing metal carbide grains into the surrounding amorphous phase matrix, which limits diffusion of the metal and carbon.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Work was performed within the VINNEX Center FunMat supported by The Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA). The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation supported the electron microscopy laboratory at Linköping operated by the Thin Film Physics Division. O.T., P.E., and U.J. also acknowledge support from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) through the Synergy Grant FUNCASE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Sweden, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Olof Tengstrand, Jun Lu, Axel Flink, Per Eklund & Lars Hultman

  2. Department of Chemistry, The Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden, 751 21, Uppsala, Sweden

    Nils Nedfors, Matilda Andersson & Ulf Jansson

  3. Impact Coatings AB, Sweden, 582 16, Linköping, Sweden

    Axel Flink

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  1. Olof Tengstrand
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  2. Nils Nedfors
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  3. Matilda Andersson
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  4. Jun Lu
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  5. Ulf Jansson
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  6. Per Eklund
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  7. Lars Hultman
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Correspondence to Olof Tengstrand or Per Eklund.

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Tengstrand, O., Nedfors, N., Andersson, M. et al. Model for electron-beam-induced crystallization of amorphous Me–Si–C (Me = Nb or Zr) thin films. Journal of Materials Research 29, 2854–2862 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.345

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.345

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