Compositional Dependence of the Columnar Grain Structure in Obliquely Deposited Fe1-x-Cox (x=0-1) Films

The compositional dependence of the columnar grain structure in Fe1-x -Co x (x=0-1) films has been investigated. The films were vapor-deposited at an incidence angle of 65° on glass substrates kept at 473 K. The pressure during deposition was 2.7×10-2 Pa. Reflection ellipsometry detected morphology changes at compositions of 0.02, 0.5, 0.77 and 0.9. The X-ray analysis and replica electron microscopy revealed that these four compositions correspond to the crystallographic changes. With increasing x, columnar grains change texture from type I [111] (11̄0) to [100] (010) at x=0.5 and the crystal structure from bcc to hcp at x=0.9; in the x range from 0.02 to 0.77 columnar grains clearly exhibit the crystal habit. On the basis of these results the crystallographic contribution to the formation of the columnar grain structure is discussed.