Structural comparison of gadolinium and lanthanum silicate films on Si(1 0 0) by HRTEM, EELS and SAED

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) were used to study gadolinium and lanthanum silicate films deposited on Si(100) substrates using electron-beam evaporation from pressed-powder targets. As-deposited films consist of an amorphous silicate layer without an interfacial layer. After annealing at 900°C in oxygen for 2min, an interfacial …