OBSERVATION OF COMPOSITIONAL SEPARATION IN COCRTA THIN-FILM USING TRANSMISSION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPE WITH IMAGING FILTER

The elemental mapping of a CoCrTa thin him deposited at 270 degrees C has been performed using a transmission electron microscope equipped w ith an imaging filter. A compositional separation, which consists of C o-enriched areas and a Cr-enriched phase around them, is quantitativel y observed. The Co-enriched areas are about 20 nm in diameter and the Cr-enriched phase extends with a two-dimensional network, which corres ponds to grain boundaries. Intragrain Cr-enriched areas, which are les s enriched than at the grain boundaries, are also observed.