Fabrication Of Buried Self-Organized Stripes In The Ni∕C[sub 60] Composite

A periodic array of striped nanoscopic domains, embedded in the epitaxially grown Ni layer, was formed after thermal annealing of the Ni/Ni+C60/C60/Ni thin multilayer sequence deposited on the MgO(001) monocrystal. The composite was annealed in 100 °C/1 hr increments in the range of 200–600 °C, and the structural evolution of the composite was analyzed mainly by Rutherford Backscattering and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The periodic system of the stripes was revealed after annealing at 600 °C. The possible mechanism of the domain formation is suggested as follows: temperatures below 500 °C incite diffusion (and consecutive disintegration) of the C60 molecules; temperatures above 500 °C induce forceful intermixing of the upper Ni/Ni+C60/C60 layers; due to the pronounced immiscibility of the Ni and C (C60) components the process of the phase separation is triggered. In the confined crystalline matrix of the buffer Ni layer the separation proceeds coordinately according to the Ni lattice template ‐ the stri...