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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Thin Sb films have been prepared on glass substrates by rapid thermal evaporation. Films with thicknesses varied from 260 Å to 1300Å were used for the study. X-ray diffraction data showed that for films deposited at room substrate temperature, an almost random grain orientation was observed for films of 1300 Å thick and a tendency for preferred grain orientation was observed as films got thinner. For films of 260 Å thick, only two x-ray diffraction peaks--(003) and (006) were observed. After thermal annealing, secondary grains grew to show preferred orientation in all the films. This phenomenon was explained by surface-energy-driven secondary grain growth. This paper reports the effects of annealing time and film thickness on the secondary grain growth and the evolution of thin Sb film microstmctures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction were used to characterize the films.