Evidence for Glass–glass Interfaces in a Columnar Cu–Zr Nanoglass

Voigt, Hendrik; Rigoni, Aaron; Boltynjuk, Evgeniy; Chellali, Mohammed Reda; Tyler, Bonnie; Rösner, Harald; Divinski, Sergiy; Hahn, Horst; Wilde, Gerhard

Abstract

Comprehensive analyses of the atomic structure using advanced analyticaltransmission electron microscopy-based methods combined with atom probetomography confirm the presence of distinct glass–glass interfaces in acolumnar Cu-Zr nanoglass synthesized by magnetron sputtering. Theseanalyses provide first-time in-depth characterization of sputtered filmnanoglasses and indicate that glass–glass interfaces indeed present anamorphous phase with reduced mass density as compared to the neighboringamorphous regions. Moreover, dedicated analyses of the diffusion kinetics bytime-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF SIMS) prove significantlyenhanced diffusivity, suggesting fast transport along the low densityglass–glass interfaces. The present results further indicate that sputterdeposition is a feasible technique for reliable production of nanoglasses andthat some of the concepts proposed for this new class of glassy materialsare applicable.