Orientation of Ni–Cr Thin Films with an Underlying Ti Layer

Insertion of a Ti thin film between an 80 wt% Ni–20 wt% Cr thin film and a glass-coated Al2O3 substrate resulted in a strongly (111) preferred orientation in the Ni–Cr thin film, which was deposited on the Ti layer by continuous sputtering. The preferred orientation and the cross section were observed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (RRTEM), respectively. The Ni–Cr thin film was found to have a columnar structure and the column axes were normal to the substrate. In addition, the (111) orientation of Ni–Cr was observed to be almost parallel to the (100) orientation of Ti.