Epitaxial growth and stress relaxation of vapor-deposited Fe-Pd magnetic shape memory films

To achieve maximum performance in microscale magnetic shape memory actuation devices epitaxial films several hundred nanometers thick are needed. Epitaxial films were grown on hot MgO substrates (500 degrees C and above) by e-beam evaporation. Structural properties and stress relaxation mechanisms were investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, in situ substrate curvature measurements and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The high misfit stress incorporated during Vollmer-Weber growth at the beginning was relaxed by partial or perfect dislocations depending on the substrate temperature. This relaxation allowed the avoidance of a stress-induced breakdown of epitaxy and no thickness limit for epitaxy was found. For substrate temperatures of 690 degrees C or above, the films grew in the fcc austenite phase. Below this temperature, iron precipitates were formed. MD simulations showed how these precipitates influence the movements of partial dislocations, and can thereby explain the higher stress level observed in the experiments in the initial stage of growth for these films.