STM-Untersuchungen an amorphem ZrCo- und ZrAlCu-Aufdampfschichten

In manifold ways the physical properties of thin films are linked to its surface structure and morphology, depending on the preparation conditions. Thus, metallic alloy thin films grown by vapour deposition can condense into a crystalline or into a amorphous state. Especially for amorphous films, there occur several questions, concerning surface morphology and development of the growth front. With scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) vapour grown films of amorphous ZrCo alloys and films of the ternary metallic glass Zr_6_5Al_7_._5Cu_2_7_._5 were investigated in situ in ultra-high vacuum. Surface structures on two different lenght scales are observed. On the atomic scale structures with 5 to 7 A in diameter become visible, which are interpreted as single atoms. These berry structures represent the intrinsic roughness of amorphous films. On a mesoscopic scale smooth hill-like surface structures with several nanometres in diameter are observed. If the film is annealed to temperatures above the glass transition temperature, these corrugations relax, due to viscous flow behaviour of the undercooled liquid. The intrinsic roughness of the amorphous film is still conserved77 refs.Available from TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman