Abstract
In this paper, the technique of microscope-spectrophotometry, used to nondestructively characterize the microstructure of ion beam synthesized iron-disilicide layers, is described. The results obtained agree extremely well, in terms of layer thickness and interfacial roughness, with those from Rutherford backscattering. The results also show that it is possible to interpret the measured spectral reflectance data in terms of: 1) defect annealing; 2) iron redistribution; and 3) phase transformations from the β to the α phase.