Phase formation in Al–Fe thin film systems

This work is an investigation on the phase formation in Al–Fe thin film systems. This investigation was carried out on four samples with different Al/Fe thickness ratios (1.4, 3.13, 4 and 7). The samples were prepared by sputtering and characterized using in situ resistivity measurements and in-situ X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements. The sequence of phase formation was evidenced from this study. Whatever the composition of the sample, the reaction between Al and Fe at around 300 °C leads to the formation of the metastable phase Al6Fe. The subsequent phases depend on the composition of the sample. Except for the sample with the highest content in Al, the end phases observed at 600 °C correspond to those reported in the phase diagram for the corresponding compositions at the same temperature. ergies of activation of Al6Fe, Al5Fe2 and AlFe were determined from in-situ resistance measurements by using Kissinger method and resistivity values were measured at room temperature for AlFe, Al5Fe2 and Al83Fe17.