DIFFUSION IN MULTILAYER STRUCTURES OF METAL-CARBON SUPERTHIN FILMS

The effect of annealing on the X-ray optical characteristics of artificial multilayer structures of superthin films (1-3 nm thicknesses) composed of metal (chromium, iron, nickel, molybdenum, rhodium, tungsten, platinum and others) and carbon is studied. The diffusion kinetics in multilayers is determined by analysing the variations in angular spectra of reflected "hard" (lambda almost-equal-to 0.1 nm) and soft (lambda almost-equal-to 1-10 nm) X-rays. It is shown experimentally that, for all investigated metallic materials, there is an annealing temperature range in which the X-ray reflectivity increases. The observed effect is explained by the carbon atom displacement into the metal region through the interface.