The Reactivity of Cr‐Te Superlattice Reactants and of Co‐deposited Cr‐Te Films: Studies with in‐situ X‐ray Diffractometry

The reactivity of a Cr‐Te multilayer film consisting of 326 Cr/Te double‐layers with about 88(3) at% Te was investigated with in‐situ X‐ray diffraction. The occurrence of a superstructure reflection caused by the multilayer system is observed. During the annealing procedure between 80 and 90 °C the layer‐by‐layer arrangement is destroyed and elemental Te crystallizes. After 6 h isothermal annealing at 140 °C CrTe 3 starts to crystallize. The amount and the crystal size of CrTe 3 increase with raising temperature and Te is consumed during the growth process. At 220 °C the formation of crystalline Cr 2 Te 3 is observed and between 220 and 260 °C CrTe 3 is completely decomposed into Cr 2 Te 3 . The two Cr tellurides grow as highly textured materials. The size of CrTe 3 crystals is significantly larger than that of Cr 2 Te 3 . For a co‐deposited Cr‐Te film with composition 77(3) at% Te the tri‐telluride and elemental Te crystallize simultaneously. The texture of CrTe 3 is less pronounced and different reflections of the tri‐telluride occur besides the (h00)‐reflections. Up to 160 °C a pronounced increase of the crystallite size is observed and the crystals are significantly larger than those obtained with the multifilm sample. At 130 °C the crystallization kinetics seem to be controlled by nucleation.