Crystallization of thin antimony deposits on amorphous carbon

The systematic study of the first stages of antimony growth on amorphous carbon substrates is inhibited by the oxidation of the deposit during transfer through air from the evaporating chamber to the analysis system. To prevent the oxidation of the deposit, the sample is coated in situ with carbon. Under these conditions, transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy show that antimony deposits on amorphous carbon supports are amorphous in the first stages of growth. This work shows for the first time that, even for a very low thickness where antimony is considered amorphous, some crystalline antimony aggregates exist on the support. These aggregates are assumed to act as nucleation centres for the crystallization of continuous antimony films which occurs when the equivalent thickness is larger than a critical thickness.