Highly metastable amorphous or near-amorphous ternary films (mictamict alloys)

Thin ternary films of the generic composition (early transition metal)-Si-(nitrogen or oxygen) can be synthesized that have an amorphous or near-amorphous structure and are highly resistant to crystallization upon thermal annealing. Common to all of them is the existence of two compounds that form a quasi-binary system. Some known properties of these films are reviewed. Their similarity with amorphous binary metallic alloys is emphasized. Many ternary systems should exist with which such amorphous films can be made. The name 'mictamict' is proposed to identify this general class of materials. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.