ISSN:
1662-0356
Source:
Scientific.Net: Materials Science & Technology / Trans Tech Publications Archiv 1984-2008
Topics:
Natural Sciences in General
,
Technology
Notes:
Down-scaling is a major principle of modern technology. As a consequence, thestability of many technical devices is controlled by solid state reactions that proceed on the range ofa few nanometres only. On such a short length scale even basic aspects of reaction physics asfundamental as e.g. the Ficks laws of diffusion, need to be reconsidered.Only very few dedicated techniques are suitable to study atomic transport and reactions withsufficient accuracy. Among them, the atom probe tomography is exceptional, as it allows thedetection and localization of individual atoms with an accuracy of a lattice constant. An almostcomplete reconstruction of the 3D atomic arrangement of different atomic species gets possible.This article provides an overview on recent atom probe studies of reactive diffusion. After anintroduction into the principles of the analysis method, physical mechanisms of solid state reactionsare discussed in view of recent experiments at metallic thin film interfaces. How does nucleation ofan interfacial product take place? In which way do grain boundaries influence the reaction? As atechnical example, the stability of Cu/NiFe GMR sensor layers is discussed
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://www.tib-hannover.de/fulltexts/2011/0528/01/42/transtech_doi~10.4028%252Fwww.scientific.net%252FAST.46.126.pdf
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