In situ TEM study of crystals growth in amorphous Ti-Zr-Ni films at electron beam irradiation

Using the methods of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with video recording of the phase transformations the structure and kinetics of crystal growth in amorphous films of Ti41Zr41Ni18 were studied. The films were obtained by magnetron sputtering of a Ti-Zr-Ni target with deposition on substrates at T = 30 degrees C. The amorphous (X-ray amorphous) state of the film was retained up to a temperature of 650 degrees C, above which a polymorphous transformation took place with the formation of crystals with the fcc structure. Video frame analysis shows that the nucleation and growth of flat crystals with fcc structure take place at electron beam irradiation. The speed of movement of the crystallization front did not depend on the time at a constant intensity of the electron beam. A linear dependence on time for the radius of the crystal and a quadratic one for the fraction of the crystalline phase are performed. The dimensionless parameter of the relative length of crystallization was about three thousand.