Morphology of amorphous Fe91Zr9/Al2O3 multilayers: Dewetting and crystallization

Amorphous Fe91Zr9/Al2O3 multilayers grown by magnetron sputtering have been studied using x-ray reflectometry, x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy. It could be demonstrated that on the interface between the Fe91Zr9 and the Al2O3, crystalline grains are formed, that for very small repetition thicknesses destroy the periodicity of the multilayers by accumulative roughness. Understanding these effects would enable substantial improvement of the quality of nanolaminated amorphous layers