Studies on Thin Films of Antimony Vacuum Evaporated from a Knudsen-Type Source

A Knudsen-type evaporation source was used for the deposition of thin films of antimony to study their growth and microstructure under different rates of evaporation and substrate temperatures when vacuum evaporated onto air-cleaved KC1, mica, amorphous carbon and doped KCl substrates. The crystallisation of these films on exposure to an electron beam of moderate intensity inside the electron microscope was studied, and the orientations of the crystallised films wrt the substrate were established. It has been concluded that antimony films prepared by this source compare well with those prepared by other sources of vacuum evaporation.