Structural investigations of amorphous transition element films I. Scanning electron diffraction study of cobalt

Abstract

Abstract Thin films of cobalt, prepared in ultra-high-vacuum at 4 K and examined in situ by scanning electron diffraction, are shown to be amorphous with a radial distribution function similar to that obtained theoretically by serial deposition of atoms in the computer-simulated model developed by Bennett. The effects of removal of lossy electrons (by velocity filtering), subtraction of substrate background, and multiple scattering on the diffraction profile are investigated and discussed.