Analysis of the diffusion processes in Al/Cr, Al/Fe and Cr/Fe multilayers using the MRI model

One of the methods for synthesis of intermetallic films consists of two steps: deposition of a multilayer film containing monometallic layers, and consequential annealing to induce a diffusion process and alloy formation. Though the diffusion coefficients are generally known for couples of common metals, they can considerably differ for films deposited by PVD due to their specific microstructure. Bimetallic multilayers Al/Cr, Al/Fe and Cr/Fe were analysed as the first step for formation of the complex metallic alloy Al₄(Cr,Fe). The films were deposited by triode sputtering with a total thickness of about 250 nm and consisted of 6 layers. Annealing was performed in vacuum at temperatures 240-650 °C.The depth distributions of elements in the films annealed at various temperatures were measured by Auger electron spectroscopy. Detailed analysis of the profile was conducted using the MRI model, which takes into account interface broadening of the measured profile due to three reasons: ion-induced atom mixing, roughness, and information depth of analysed electrons. Thus we reconstructed the true depth profile of the as-deposited samples and profiles of the annealed samples that allowed us to extract the diffusion coefficients.