Crystallization of amorphous antimony films on silver films

The crystallization process in amorphous antimony films 70–330 Å thick evaporated onto silver films 10–150 Å thick which have previously been evaporated onto glass is directly observed through an optical microscope. The conditions under which the crystallization process in the amorphous antimony films is observed are found to be severely limited by the preparation conditions of the silver films. The crystallization can only be observed on silver films thinner than 30–40 Å which have previously been exposed to oxygen or nitrogen gas. The crystallization thickness of amorphous antimony films on these substrates is estimated to be 123-75 Å as the substrate temperature varies from 20 to 80 °C and the activation energy for crystallization to be 0.23-0.30 eV as the film thickness varies from infinity to 200 Å.