OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF AMORPHOUS AND CRYSTALLINE FESI2, TISI2, MOSI2 AND CRSI2 FILMS

The influence of the crystalline into amorphous structural transition on the optical properties of TiSi2, MoSi2, FeSi2 and CrSi2 films have been investigated in the 0.5-5.0 eV energy range. The features in the optical conductivity spectra of the polycrystalline samples are explai ned on the basis of the comparison of the experimental data with the r esults of first-principle calculations of the electron energy structur es and optical properties of corresponding compounds. It is shown that the loss of the translational invariance in the amorphous state leads to significant changes in the optical properties and the electron ene rgy structure of these alloys. The observed high sensitivity of the op tical properties to the atomic structure of the transition metals disi licides allows the use of optical spectroscopy as a tool for detection of tiny changes in the short range order of amorphous alloys caused b y their structural relaxation to the equilibrium crystalline state.