Abstract
Ultramicrotomy has been employed to prepare thin cross-sections of the Ni-P alloys electrodeposited onto copper substrates. It was found that ultramicrotomed sections as thin as 10nm or even less can be prepared successfully with negligible damage to the alloys. Subsequent examination of the sections in analytical and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy has shown that the alloys of lower phosphorous contents consist of thin layers of different phosphorous content and crystallinity. Microcrystallites, several nanometers in size, were revealed clearly at high resolution in the alloy containing 15at.% phosphorous where rapid decrease in crystal size has been reported by X-ray diffraction measurements. Additionally, ordered regions, a few nanometers in size, were revealed at high resolution in the Ni77-P23 alloy which has hitherto been regarded as amorphous. Further evidence for the presence of such ordered regions has been obtained by Fourier transformation of the high resolution images.
