Preparation and structure analysis of nanocrystalline Sc film grown on Si substrate

Sc films have been successfully grown on Si substrates by electron beam deposition (EBD). The microstructure and surface morphology of Sc films prepared with different deposition parameters were examined by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The observations show that, in the substrate temperature range of 350 to 550 ℃, the films are mainly composed by Sc, and higher substrate temperature leads to more compact films with larger grain sizes. With the temperature increasing up to 650 ℃, the reaction between Sc and Si makes a film of ScSi. At lower temperature, the effects of deposition rate on the morphologies and structures of Sc films are weak. While at the higher temperature of 650 ℃,micro cracks appear and the number of ScSi peaks increases with increasing the deposition rate.