Formation and thermal stability of amorphous Cu-Zr thin films deposited by coevaporation

The formation and thermal stability of amorphous thin films have been characterized by comparing them with those of melt-spun ribbons. The various Cu1−xZrx thin films were deposited by coevaporation. The amorphous formation range and the crystallization behavior in the films were investigated with x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The amorphous thin films are formed in the composition range x=0.20–0.75, which is wider than that found for the melt-spun ribbons. The crystallization temperature and the activation energy for crystallization are lower than those of the melt-spun ribbons, although the composition dependencies show tendencies similar to those of the ribbons. These differences in thermal stability between amorphous films and ribbons might be due to a lower degree of the short-range ordering in the films.