SOLID-STATE AMORPHIZATION REACTION IN THE SYSTEM ZIRCONIUM HYDRIDE-COBALT

Crystalline multilayer films of zirconium hydride and cobalt were prepared by a dual ion-beam sputtering technique. The structure of the samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis at low and medium scattering angles and by Rutherford backscattering experiments. During suitable heat treatments a solid-state reaction occurs in ZrH2+x/Co forming a two-phase amorphous Zr-Co-H alloy. The composition of the amorphous phases reveals similarities to the behaviour of crystalline Zr-Co compounds upon dissolution of hydrogen. At small modulation wavelengths and at temperatures above 300 K an in-situ amorphization reaction occurs during deposition, again leading to a compositionally modulated structure with two amorphous phases.