Measurements were made of Fe self-diffusion in amorphous FeN0.7 by using secondary-ion mass spectroscopy. Diffusional broadening of tracer layers of 57FeN0.7 was observed after isothermal vacuum annealing of the films at various temperatures. Strong structural relaxation effects upon the diffusion coefficient were observed below the crystallization temperature of the amorphous phase. In the well-relaxed state, the diffusion data could be described by:

D (m2/s) = 6.18 x 10-8 exp[-1.3(eV)/kT]

On the basis of a correlation between ln[D0] and E, it was suggested that the mechanism of Fe self-diffusion in amorphous iron nitride was very similar to that in metallic glasses.

M.Gupta, A.Gupta, S.Rajagopalan, A.K.Tyagi: Physical Review B, 2002, 65[21], 214204