Formation of metastable alloy films in the Ni-Mo binary system by ion-beam-assisted deposition

The possibility of amorphization in Ni-Mo multilayered thin films was studied by the Ar+-ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) technique. The amorphous phase was obtained in some of the samples and the nominal composition range was 30-60 at. % Ni. Face-centered cubic and bcc supersaturated solid solutions were also formed in the experiment. The evolution of phase and microstructure is interpreted according to the calculated Gibbs free-energy diagram of the Ni-Mo system. The kinetics of IBAD are also discussed.