Epitaxial nanoscale [001] films of Ni-37.5at%Al were prepared by vapour deposition onto a thin film of Ag[001] on NaCl (001) faces which exhibited occasional hillocks. The Ag film contained numerous dislocations and stacking faults, and had a root mean square surface roughness of 2nm. The Ni-Al film had an ordered B2 structure and contained many dislocations, as well as antiphase boundaries between ordered domains. The formation of sub-grains in the Ni-Al film resulted in large height variations, of up to 30nm, across the surface.

Epitaxial Ni-Al Thin Films on NaCl using a Ag Buffer Layer. M.Yandouzi, L.Toth, V.Vasudevan, M.Cannaerts, C.Van Haesendonck, D.Schryvers: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2000, 80[11], 718-24