In Situ X-Ray Scattering of Monolayers Adsorbed at Electrochemical Interfaces.

Surface x-ray scattering has been used to study in-situ the structure of Pb monolayers electrochemically adsorbed on Ag (111) electrodes. Pb forms an incommensurate, hexagonal two-dimensional (2D) solid, which is rotated approximately 4.5° from the substrate symmetry directions and compressed relative to bulk Pb. Between monolayer formation and bulk deposition, the Pb-Pb near neighbor distance decreases linearly with applied potential. Due to the chemical equilibrium between the Pb monolayer and the Pb in solution, the isothermal compressibility of the monolayer can be measured and is in good agreement with that calculated for a 2D non-interacting free electron gas model of the monolayer. It is observed that the intensity of surface diffraction from the Ag substrate (the Ag crystal truncation rod) decreases when the Pb monolayer is adsorbed, although the cause of this is not known.

Formation of Metastable Structures and Amorphous Phases in cu-w Alloys Using the Triode Sputtering Technique

ABSTRACTThe triode sputtering technique and a “split-target” arrangement were used to produce metastable crystalline and amorphous phases in the Cu-W system under essentially oxygen-free conditions. Large metastable extensions of solid solubility were observed both from the Cu (fcc) and W (bcc) sides of the phase diagram, and a wide range of metallic glass formation was observed, approximately between 30 and 65 at.% W. The thickness of the amorphous Cu-W phase (40–160 pm) that can be deposited without the formation of the metastable bcc phase appears to be dependent on the Cu-W alloy composition. On heating, the crystallization temperature of the amorphous alloys was higher than 350°C. The behavior of the lattice parameter and near-neighbor distance has been studied with x-ray diffraction, showing small positive deviations from an assumed Vegard's Law. Hardness measurements indicate that the metastable crystalline phases are relatively harder than the amorphous phase.