Nanostructures of amorphous granular composite films Co45Fe45Zr10 x Zr2O3 1 x

Nanostructure of amorphous granular composite filmsCo45Fe45Zr10 x Zr2O3 1 x, deposited on mylar substrate, was investigated. In the thin films (thickness up to 200 nm) aggregates of densely packed grains are observed. In the thick films the granules form a continuous coating of substrates and the porosity is shown as interstices between granules. It is revealed that change of the granule sizewith thickness is described by function Фd , by which the conductivity change d  for thin metal films was described. It is shown that nanostructure of theamorphous granular composite films determines their conductive and reflective properties. The thickness interval (d  200 470 nm), in which the average grain size changes at change of films thickness, similarly to static conductivity in direct current and dynamic conductivity in the range of microwave frequencies, has been defined. It is found that the thickness interval differs from those thicknesses( d  320  470nm) at which the reflection coefficient strongly changes. It is hy-pothesized that at d  200 320 nm the metal granules included in a dielectric ma-trix, yet do not possess sufficient conductivity to coherently reflect the microwaves.Studies of amorphous composite granular films by scanning electron microscopy were conducted. It is shown that in films with thickness up to 400 nm there are conductive paths discontinuities and between cracks and in the pores the substrate material is mainly located. If the film thickness exceeds 400 nm, the cracks are filled with the film material and the conductive paths have no discontinuities.