The seeding and morphology of quasicrystalline ${\mathrm{Ti}}_x{\mathrm{Ni}}_y{\mathrm{Zr}}_{1-x-y}$ thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition on ${\mathrm{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3\left(0001\right)$ have been investigated in situ, using in-plane x-ray diffraction and reflectivity with synchrotron radiation. The crystallinity of the final films was further studied ex situ using a laboratory x-ray source. Local icosahedral order becomes established after a film thickness of $1.5\mathrm{nm}$, which is followed by an abrupt change in the growth rate after a film thickness of approximately $5\mathrm{nm}$, as long-range quasicrystalline order begins to become energetically favorable. The films grow two-dimensionally even up to thicknesses of over $100\mathrm{nm}$ and are highly textured, consisting of columnar grains with one of their fivefold symmetry axes perpendicular to the substrate surface.

• Received 19 October 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.71.094203