Stress induced pattern formation preceding crystallization of Te ₃Se₄(I) thin films

Amorphous Te3Se4 and Te3Se4I thin films, prepared by rf sputtering, were crystallized by thermal treatment. The relaxation of residual stresses upon heating the films produced a macroscopic strain pattern in the amorphous phase prior to crystallization. This pattern determined the growth of a preferred crystallographic orientation which led to the evolution of a macroscopic branching crystalline morphology. Interference of transformation stresses between neighboring surface spherulites (sometimes called cylindrites) resulted in the development of shared morphological domains.