Order within disorder: the atomic structure of ion-beam sputtered amorphous tantala (a-Ta2O5)

Bassiri, R. et al. (2015) Order within disorder: the atomic structure of ion-beam sputtered amorphous tantala (a-Ta2O5). APL Materials, 3(3), 036103. (doi: 10.1063/1.4913586)

Abstract

Amorphous tantala (a-Ta2O5) is a technologically important material often used in high-performance coatings. Understanding this material at the atomic level provides a way to further improve performance. This work details extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements of a-Ta2O5 coatings, where high-quality experimental data and theoretical fits have allowed a detailed interpretation of the nearest-neighbor distributions. It was found that the tantalum atom is surrounded by four shells of atoms in sequence; oxygen, tantalum, oxygen, and tantalum. A discussion is also included on how these models can be interpreted within the context of published crystalline Ta 2O5 and other a-T2O5 studies.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rowan, Professor Sheila and Abernathy, Mr Matthew and Bassiri, Mr Riccardo and Martin, Dr Iain and HART, Martin and MacLaren, Dr Ian
• Authors: Bassiri, R., Liou, F., Abernathy, M. R., Lin, A. C., Kim, N., Mehta, A., Shyam, B., Byer, R. L., Gustafson, E. K., HART, M., MacLaren, I., Martin, I. W., Route, R. K., Rowan, S., Stebbins, J. F., and Fejer, M. M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Research Centre: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research
• Journal Name: APL Materials
• Publisher: AIP Publishing
• ISSN: 2166-532X
• ISSN (Online): 2166-532X
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 The Authors
• First Published: First published in APL Materials 3(3):036103
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License