Detection of structural change of Pd-Cu-Ge metallic glass thin films upon heat treatment by using X-ray reflectivity

X-ray reflectivity of heat-treated Pd-Cu-Ge metallic glass thin films were measured at room temperature. The density, thickness and surface roughness of the films were determined by fitting the theoretically calculated reflectivity profiles to the experimentally measured ones by using a simple model consisting of one metallic glass thin film deposited on a Si wafer. The increase in the density, the decrease in the thickness and the increase in the surface roughness of the films by crystallization were clearly detected by X-ray reflectivity.