Pd/Al, and Pt/Al bilayers Phase formation by ion beam mixing in Ni/Al

Ion beam and thermal reactions in thin-film bilayers of Ni/Al, Pd/Al, and Pt/Al have been investigated using electron diffraction and Rutherford backscattering (RBS). Ion mixing was performed with 600-keV Xe ions at room temperature with doses ranging between 0.25 to 121015 ions/cm2. The compositions of the ion induced crystalline phases, NiAl and PdAl, differ both from the overall atomic compositions of the ion mixed layers (as determined by RBS) and from the compositions of the layers obtained by thermal annealing. In Pt/Al bilayers ion mixing forms an amorphous region with atomic composition Pt40Al60 while thermal annealing shows the formation of crystalline Pt2Al3. We believe that actual crystal compound formation during mixing is dependent on the high quench rate in the collision cascade region.

Phase formation by ion beam mixing in Ni/Al, Pd/Al, and Pt/Al bilayers Academic Article