Study of the nickel-fullerene nano-structured thin films

Metal/C-60 thin film packaging provides a new class of fullerene-based materials with interesting transport properties, which can be utilized in various applications. Integrated composite systems are however thermodynamically unstable the thermal annealing can trigger a dramatic alteration of their structure. Here we report on the thermal response of the Ni + C-60/C60Ni multilayer deposited on the MgO(0 0 1) crystal. The system exhibited unusual behavior: below 350 degreesC an unusual growth of the buried, (I 1 1) oriented C-60 crystallites was observed, while above 350 degreesC the system rapidly altered - the upper adlayers peeled and the Ni buffer partly intermixed with the MgO substrate. As followed from the RBS analysis, an intriguing structure might be formed at the Ni/MgO interface. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.