A Quantitative Crystallization Study of Thin Amorphous Fe80B20 Films Via Empirical Modeling of Exafs Data

Thin amorphous films (t{approx}200{angstrom}) of Fe{sub 80}B{sub 20} were annealed at temperatures ranging from 473K--823K and studied using extended X-ray absorption fine structure to investigate the evolution of local structure and the Fe atoms during crystallization. Modeling of the local environment around Fe using empirical standards was employed to determined the relative fraction of the crystalline phases present in annealed samples. Results illustrate the sensitivity of EXAFS in detecting the onset of crystallization in thin amorphous films and its ability to quantitatively measure the relative fraction of crystalline phases present in partially crystallized thin film samples.