The non-equilibrium epitaxial growth of MgxCa1−xO solid-solution films at 600C was investigated. No obvious phase separation was observed during annealing at up to 800C, in spite of a large miscibility gap. The solid-solution film was comparable with a disordered alloy, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Spinodal decomposition, caused by uphill diffusion occurred after short-time annealing, and explicitly indicated that structural stability of the metastable solid-solution film resulted from diffusion quenching.

Structure Stability of Epitaxial MgO-CaO Solid-Solution Films - Effect of Diffusion. H.D.Li, X.N.Zhang, Z.Zhang, Z.X.Mei, X.L.Du, Q.K.Xue: Journal of Applied Physics, 2007, 101[10], 106102 (3pp)