Dear all,

As this is my first posting to this group, I'd like to introduce
myself, my name is Nick Botterill, and I'm a PhD student at the
University of Nottingham, U.K., investigating thin film shape memory
alloys.

At present, I'm depositing equiatomic Nickel Titanium onto (100)
Silicon wafer substrates, but am experiencing problems when I attempt
to recrystallise the film (it is amporphous, or nano-crystalline upon
deposition).  I expect the film to recrystallise at around 500-600
degrees Celsius, however the film simply peels off the substrate.  In
anyones oppinion, do you think that this is due to mismatches in
thermal expansivity of NiTi and Si, or due to the stresses in the
films ?

Any input would be very much appreciated.  I look forward to hearing
from some of you in the near future.

Many thanks,

Nick Botterill

[email protected]
[email protected]