Hafnium silicate films were fabricated by RF reactive magnetron sputtering technique. Fine
microstructural analyses of the films were performed by means of high-resolution
transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. A thermal treatment of as-
grown homogeneous films leads to a phase separation process. The formation of SiO 2 and
HfO 2 phases as well as pure Si one was revealed. This latter was found to be amorphous Si
nanoclusters, distributed uniformly in the film volume. Their mean diameter and density were …