Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Physical vapor deposition of Group VI elements (Cr, Mo, W) can lead to the formation of a metastable A-15 crystal structure under certain processing conditions. Typically, a thermally induced transformation of the metastable A-15 structure into the equilibrium body centered cubic structure has been accomplished by conventional furnace annealing at T/Tm ≈ 0.3 from tens of minutes to several hours. In this study we report on the use of rapid thermal annealing to transform sputter deposited A- 15 crystal structure tungsten and chromium thin films into body centered cubic films within the same temperature range but at times on the order of one minute. The minimum annealing times and temperatures required for complete transformation of the A-15 phase into the BCC phase varied from sample to sample, indicating that the transformation was dependent on the film characteristics. The electrical resistivity of A-15 Cr and W films was measured before and after rapid thermal annealing and was found to significantly decrease after transformation into the body center cubic phase.