Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9572140 | Applied Surface Science | 2005 | 11 Pages |
Abstract
We investigated the diffusion profiles and core-loss fine-structures (ELNES) of thin vanadium nitride films by electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM). The nitride layers have been produced by rapid thermal processing in a NH3 or N2 atmosphere and have then been cross-sectioned with a focused ion beam instrument (FIB) under mild milling conditions to maintain crystallography. For the high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy studies (HREELS), a recently developed TEM gun monochromator, implemented into a 200Â kV field emission gun column was used in combination with a new post-column spectrometer. It was found that, dependent on substrate and atmosphere, layers with different vanadium and nitrogen content were formed, showing distinct differences in their ELNES. With an energy resolution at the 0.2Â eV level and a TEM beam spot size of approximately 2Â nm these layers could be unambiguously identified when compared to theoretical ELNES simulations from the literature.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemistry
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Authors
Gerald Kothleitner, M. Rogers, A. Berendes, W. Bock, B.O. Kolbesen,