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Title: Demonstration of thin film pair distribution function analysis (tfPDF) for the study of local structure in amorphous and crystalline thin films

Journal Article · · IUCrJ
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [2];  [5]
  1. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
  2. Aarhus Univ. (Denmark)
  3. Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source
  5. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.
+ Show Author Affiliations

By means of normal incidence, high flux and high energy x-rays, we have obtained total scattering data for Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis from thin films (tf), suitable for local structure analysis. By using amorphous substrates as support for the films, the standard Rapid Acquisition PDF setup can be applied and the scattering signal from the film can be isolated from the total scattering data through subtraction of an independently measured background signal. No angular corrections to the data are needed, as would be the case for grazing incidence measurements. We illustrate the ‘tfPDF’ method through studies of as deposited (i.e. amorphous) and crystalline FeSb3 films, where the local structure analysis gives insight into the stabilization of the metastable skutterudite FeSb3 phase. The films were prepared by depositing ultra-thin alternating layers of Fe and Sb, which interdiffuse and after annealing crystallize to form the FeSb3 structure. The tfPDF data show that the amorphous precursor phase consists of corner-sharing FeSb6 octahedra with motifs highly resembling the local structure in crystalline FeSb3. Analysis of the amorphous structure allows predicting whether the final crystalline product will form the FeSb3 phase with or without excess Sb present. The study thus illustrates how analysis of the local structure in amorphous precursor films can help to understand crystallization processes of metastable phases and opens for a range of new local structure studies of thin films.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704
OSTI ID:
1226021
Report Number(s):
BNL-108162-2015-JA; R&D Project: PM032; KC0202010
Journal Information:
IUCrJ, Vol. 2, Issue 5; ISSN 2052-2525
Publisher:
International Union of CrystallographyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 44 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (12)

Volume-wise destruction of the antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state through quantum tuning journal August 2016
Volume-wise destruction of the antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state through quantum tuning text January 2016
The chemistry of nucleation journal January 2016
Time-resolved grazing-incidence pair distribution functions during deposition by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering text January 2019
Local atomic structure of thin and ultrathin films via rapid high-energy X-ray total scattering at grazing incidence text January 2019
Lithium ion conductivity in Li 2 S–P 2 S 5 glasses – building units and local structure evolution during the crystallization of superionic conductors Li 3 PS 4 , Li 7 P 3 S 11 and Li 4 P 2 S 7 journal January 2017
Time-resolved grazing-incidence pair distribution functions during deposition by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering journal February 2019
Time-resolved grazing-incidence pair distribution functions during deposition by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering text January 2019
The rise of the X-ray atomic pair distribution function method: a series of fortunate events journal April 2019
Volume-wise destruction of the antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state through quantum tuning text January 2016
Microfluidic electrochemical cell for in situ structural characterization of amorphous thin-film catalysts using high-energy X-ray scattering journal August 2019
Local atomic structure of thin and ultrathin films via rapid high-energy X-ray total scattering at grazing incidence journal February 2019

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