Abstract
Abstract Whisker microcrystals are detected by scanning electron microscopy upon the formation of film coatings of the niobium–cadmium system by the successive deposition of ultrafine niobium and cadmium particles atomized in a low-pressure plasma onto a moving substrate on samples with concentrations of 55.3–84.2 at % Cd (the remaining percentage is Nb). The crystals differ in shape, length, and diameter; such crystals are absent on film coatings of elemental cadmium. X-ray spectral analysis is used to show that the elemental composition of the whiskers corresponds to Cd. The authors confirm the assumption regarding the probability of participation of the vapor phase, represented by cadmium, due to the high relative value of the vapor pressure over nanoparticles in whisker formation.