Determination of the conductive and structural characteristics of zirconium-containing amorphous nanogranulated composites from the microwave reflection coefficient

Amorphous nanogranulated composite films ((Со₄₅Fе₄₅Zr₁₀)_x(ZrO)_1-x and (Со₄₅Fе₄₅Zr₁₀)_x(Zr₂O₃)_1-x) were studied experimentally. The film thickness, metal phase concentration, granules size, conductivity, and reflection coefficient of microwave waves at a frequency of 10 GHz were determined. A sequential algorithm for determining the conductive (grain conductivity) and structural (size of grains or gaps between granules, electron mean free path) characteristics from the measured microwave reflection coefficient for amorphous nanogranular composites is given. Using the algorithm and mechanism of intragranular currents based on experimental results, the conductivity of granules, the size of the gaps between the granules and the electron mean free path for zirconium containing series of films (Со₄₅Fе₄₅Zr₁₀)_x(ZrO)_1-x and (Со₄₅Fе₄₅Zr₁₀)_x(Zr₂O₃)_1-x were estimated. The dependences of the conductive and structural characteristics of the samples on the microwave reflection coefficient, the concentration of the metal phase and the effective thickness were obtained.