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Structural studies of pulsed‐laser deposited nanocomposite metal‐oxide films
Author(s) -
Serna R.,
Gonzalo J.,
SuárezGarcía A.,
Afonso C. N.,
Barnes J. P.,
PetfordLong A. K.,
Doole R. C.,
Hole D.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2818.2001.00786.x
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , nanocrystal , nucleation , oxide , annealing (glass) , amorphous solid , transmission electron microscopy , crystallization , pulsed laser deposition , chemical engineering , high resolution transmission electron microscopy , nanotechnology , thin film , crystallography , composite material , metallurgy , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Pulsed laser deposition in vacuum has been used to develop metal‐oxide nanocomposite films with well controlled structural quality. Results for the copper–aluminium oxide (Cu:Al 2 O 3 ) system are used to illustrate the main morphological and structural features of these films. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis shows that the films consist of Cu nanocrystals with average dimensions that can be controlled between 2 nm and 10 nm embedded in an amorphous Al 2 O 3 matrix. It is observed that the in‐plane shape of the nanocrystals evolves from circular to elongated, and the number of nanocrystals per unit area decreases as their size increases. This evolution is explained in terms of nucleation at the substrate surface and coalescence during the later stages of growth. The thermal stability of the films has been studied by in situ TEM annealing and no transformation could be observed up to about 800 °C when partial crystallization of the Al 2 O 3 starts.