Characterization of nanostructured HfO2 films using RBS and PAC

The hyperfine field at 181Ta lattice sites in a nanostructured HfO2 thin film doped with Fe was studied using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry and Perturbed Angular Correlation techniques. The 409 nm Hf film was deposited by Electron Beam Evaporation on a silicon substrate. The radioactive 181Hf ions were produced by neutron activation of the nanofilm in the Brazilian Research Reactor (IPEN IEA-R1) by the reaction 180Hf(n,γ)181Hf. These studies provided an excellent opportunity to obtain unique information regarding local arrangement of the grains, structure, phase transformations of nanoparticles and interfaces of nanostructured materials and the thin film.