EPMA–EDS surface measurements of interdiffusion coefficients between miscible metals in thin films

A new technique is developed to study interdiffusion between two miscible metals. The technique is applied to the Ni–Pd system. It consists in measuring the change of apparent surface composition of a Pd substrate coated with an 800 nm Ni thin film during annealing at a given temperature. The measurement is carried out in-situ inside the chamber of a SEM (scanning electron microscope) by EPMA–EDS (electron probe microanalysis–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). The experimental data are processed using a model that mixes the Fickʹs diffusion equations and the electron probe microanalysis equation. This process allows the determination of the mean interdiffusion coefficient at a given annealing temperature. The main advantages of the technique are the possible determination of interdiffusion coefficients in thin films and at very low temperature (down to 430 °C, i.e. ∼0.4 Tm), which is not achievable with other techniques conventionally used for the study of interdiffusion. The Ni–Pd mean interdiffusion coefficient is shown to follow an Arrhenius law image between 430 °C and 900 °C, in relatively good agreement with previous interdiffusion measurements made on the Ni–Pd system at higher temperature.