Metastable Phases in Sputtered Fe–Te Films

In a binary alloy of Fe–Te, several new metastable phases were obtained by sputter deposition in the compositional range of 0 to 50 at % Te. These phases were CsCl type (B2) of Fe primary solid solution, amorphous Fe–Te, layered Fe–Te, and mixtures of equilibrium crystalline phases. Their structures were studied by X-ray diffraction. A first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) associated with diffused halos exists in an alloy at around 30 at% Te, which is suggestive of aglass structure of medium-range order.