LOCAL CHEMICAL ACTIVITY AND MICROSTRUCTURAL HETEROGENEITY OF THE NEAR-SURFACE LAYER IN THE SI-EU SYSTEM: A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT BY XRD, FTIR, AND SEM/EDS
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This paper evaluates the local chemical activity and microstructural heterogeneity of the near-surface layer in the Si-Eu system through a correlated interpretation of XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDS data. XRD and WPPF processing showed that the crystal-phase basis of the sample is cubic Si with a mass fraction of 99.37 ± 0.07%. A very weak secondary component at the level of 0.63 ± 0.07% was not interpreted as a reliably established independent phase because no additional independent confirmation was available. In the FTIR spectrum, broad bands at 3428 and 3324 cm-1 were associated with adsorbed moisture and hydroxyl-related states, whereas the 2113 cm-1 signal was assigned to Si-H bonds. The 1980-1463 cm-1 range was considered a cautious spectral indicator of the chemically complex state of the near-surface layer. SEM images revealed uneven relief, local clustering, and partly agglomerated areas. Point EDS analysis detected C, P, and Eu signals; however, these data characterize only the selected local region and do not represent the average composition of the whole sample. The combined results indicate that, in a Si-matrix-dominated system, the near-surface layer is chemically active and morphologically nonuniform.
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