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Beam-induced crystallization of amorphous Me–Si–C (Me = Nb or Zr) thin films during transmission electron microscopy

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Abstract

We report that an electron beam focused for high-resolution imaging rapidly initiates observable crystallization of amorphous Me–Si–C films. For 200-keV electron irradiation of Nb–Si–C and Zr–Si–C films, crystallization is observed at doses of ∼2.8 × 109 and ∼4.7 × 109 e−/nm2, respectively. The crystallization process is driven by atomic displacement events, rather than heating from the electron beam as in situ annealing (400–600 °C) retains the amorphous state. Our findings demand a critical analysis of alleged amorphous and nanocrystalline ceramics including reassessing previous reports on nanocrystalline Me–Si–C films for possible electron-beam-induced crystallization effects.

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Acknowledgments

This work was performed within the VINNEX Center FunMat supported by The Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA). The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is acknowledged for funding the electron microscope.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

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

  2. Department of Chemistry, The Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 538, SE-751 21, Uppsala, Sweden

    Nils Nedfors, Matilda Andersson & Ulf Jansson

  3. Impact Coatings AB, Westmansgatan 29, SE-582 16, Linköping, Sweden

    Axel Flink

Authors
  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.

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Tengstrand, O., Nedfors, N., Andersson, M. et al. Beam-induced crystallization of amorphous Me–Si–C (Me = Nb or Zr) thin films during transmission electron microscopy. MRS Communications 3, 151–155 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2013.31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2013.31

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