The crystal structure and chemical bonding of magnetron-sputtering deposited nickel carbide Ni₁-xCx (0.05 ⩽ x⩽0.62) thin films have been investigated by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy. By using x-ray as well as electron diffraction, we found carbon-containing hcp-Ni...

Epitaxial transparent oxide NixMg1-xO (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) thin films were grown on MgO(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. High-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis indicate that the thin films are compositionally and structurally homogeneous, forming a completely miscible solid solution. Nevertheless, the composition dependence ...

Ferroelectric Hf x Zr1-x O2 thin films are considered promising candidates for future lead-free CMOS-compatible ferroelectric memory application. The inductive crystallization behaviors and the ferroelectric performance of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films prepared by atomic layer deposition were investigated. Inductive crystallization can be induced by the film growth condition and appropriate top elect...

Thin carbon films on Ni(111) and Ni(100) and the reactive and diffusive interactions between film and substrate are investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The carbon films are deposited from the vapor phase with the substrates at room temperature. After deposition the films contain mainly elemental carbon. Restricted only to the carbon-nickel interface carbidic carbon is obs...

In this work the structure and chemistry of intergranular films at metal–ceramic interfaces was investigated via detailed microstructural characterization of model metal–Al2O3 nanocomposites. We report here experimental results indicating the formation and stability of equilibrium nanometer-thick films at metal–ceramic interfaces. Thin 1 nm interface films were observed for two different metal–...

A coincidence of reciprocal lattice planes model was developed to calculate the interfacial energy in quasicrystal-crystal epitaxy. This model allows a quantitative description of the interface as opposed to previously employed qualitative models that consider symmetry relations and alignment of rotation axes. Computations were carried out on several types of quasicrystal-crystal systems, namel...

Electrochemical experiments have been carried out in order to investigate the emission of X-rays during electrochemical hydrogen loading of thin metallic films of Pd and Ni. An estimate of the inventory of the most significant chemical elements in the cells has also been done. The activity was developed within the framework of a cooperative research effort between ENEA and SRI. In order to mini...

Patterned magnetic thin films have for the first time been used to orient and retain micron-sized III-V elements on silicon substrates during fluidic hybrid assembly. Modeling of the forces between Ni thin films patterned on one surface of 5–6 m target areas on Si substrates predicts that the strength and fall-off characteristics of the attractive forces can be engineered to orient and securely...