Study on the crystallization process of NiP amorphous alloy

The thin film of NiP amorphous alloy deposited on the p-type silicon slice was prepared by electroless plating, which was then crystallized by heating it at high temperature from 550 K to 610 K in nitrogen flow for 2 h. Its crystallization process was investigated by using ICP, XRD, XPS, TEM, SEM and STM. No significant changes in the composition and the electronic structure on the surface have been observed during the crystallization process. However the changes in the amorphous structure and the surface area as well as the surface morphology are observed, which are attributed to the deactivation of the amorphous alloy after annealing during the hydrogenation reactions. Experimental results also reveal that the diffusion of the component elements in the NiP alloy is essential during the crystallization because various crystalline diffraction peaks corresponding to Ni and Ni3P are observed simultaneously on XRD patterns. Based on those results, some modifications have been described to improve the thermal stability of the amorphous alloy.