CRYSTALLIZATION OF AMORPHOUS ANTIMONY FILMS PREPARED BY VACUUM EVAPORATION

Abstract

Antimony films in the thickness range of 50 to 250 Å prepared by vacuum evaporation on single crystal KCL substrates at room temperature show an amorphous structure, which changes readily to the crystalline form on exposure to a 40–100‐kV electron beam of moderate intensity in the electron microscope. At the nucleation stage thin films show a random orientation on crystallization, whereas thicker, nearly continuous films assume a single crystalline orientation, with (111)_metal‖(001)_KCl.