Estimation of the activation energy for surface diffusion during metastable phase formation

Abstract A method to estimate the activation energy for surface diffusion during magnetron sputtering based on experimental metastable phase formation data has been developed. The so obtained activation energies are consistent with diffusion activation barriers determined by ab initio calculations. The here adopted comparative experimental and theoretical research strategy enables the efficient acquisition of activation energy data and constitutes an improved description of surface diffusion processes of metastable materials during magnetron sputtering.