Enhanced diffusion upon amorphous-to-nanocrystalline phase transition in Mo/B4C/Si layered systems

The effect of an amorphous-to-nanocrystalline phase transition on the diffusion across an interface layer of subnanometer thickness has been investigated in real-time. The diffusion in the Mo/B4C/Si thin film structure studied was found to instantaneously enhance by an order of magnitude upon the formation of nanocrystals inducing the atomic-scale onset of grain boundary diffusion.