Metastable and equilibrium phase formation in sputter-deposited Ti/Al multilayer thin films

The sequence and kinetics of metastable and equilibrium phase formation in sputter deposited multilayer thin films was investigated by combining in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD) with ex situ electron diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The sequence included both cubic and tetragonal modifications of the equilibrium TiAl 3 crystal structure. Values for the formation activation energies of the various phases in the sequence were determined using the XRD and DSC data obtained here, as well as activation energy data reported in the literature. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.