Roughness evolution in Ga doped ZnO films deposited by pulsed laser deposition

We analyze the morphology evolution of the Ga doped ZnO(GZO) films deposited on quartz substrates by a laser deposition system. The surface morphologies of the film samples grown with different times are measured by the atomic force microscope, and they are analyzed quantitatively by using the image data. In the initial stage of the growth time shorter than 8 min, our analysis shows that the GZO surface morphologies are influenced by such factors as the random fluctuations, the smoothening effects in the deposition, the lateral strain and the substrate. The interface width uw(t) and the lateral correlation length ξ(t) at first decrease with deposition time t. For the growth time larger than 8 min, w(t) and ξ(t) increase with time and it indicates the roughening of the surface and the surface morphology exhibits the fractal characteristics. By fitting data of the roughness w(t) versus deposition time t larger than 4 min to the power-law function, we obtain the growth exponent β is 0.3; and by the height-height correlation functions of the samples to that of the self-affine fractal model, we obtain the value of roughness exponent α about 0.84 for all samples with different growth time t.     

Microstructural evolution in nanostructured gold films

Thin Au films in the thickness range t = 1.5-126 nm were coated by DC sputtering on SiO_x/Si substrates at room temperature inside a vacuum chamber with a base pressure of about 1 × 10^− 2 mbar (1 Pa). The film structure, nanograin characteristics, and the surface roughness as a function of thickness were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results reflect the microstructural evolution with film thickness. They help us to understand the mode of grain growth, which is monomodal-normal columnar as well as spherical. By determination of the dynamic scaling exponent derived from power law dependence of the mean grain size and film thickness, the prevailed mechanism of grain growth is deduced to be the diffusion of mobile Au atoms in grain boundaries. The surface roughness increases with the film thickness following a power law: R_rms ~ t^b. The linear fitted value for b is 0.60.     

Dynamic scaling in sputter grown tungsten thin films

The evolution of a tungsten thin film grown by magnetron sputtering was studied using a dynamic scaling approach. Film growth was followed in-situ and in real-time by monitoring both the specular and the diffuse X-ray scattered intensities as a function of the time of deposition. The analysis of the scattering data allowed us to determine the two Power Spectral Density (PSD) functions, which describe the thin film topography. The time-dependent PSD-function, which describes the dynamic of the external film surface, is found to obey a universal scaling form, which characterizes the thin film growth. The data collapse of these PSDs into a single master curve was achieved using scaling exponents α = 0.18 ± 0.02 and β = 0.06 ± 0.01. In addition, by analyzing the temporal variation of the roughness conformity, it has been demonstrated that the replication factor decreases exponentially with increasing film thickness and spatial frequency. Hence, for a 25 nm thick film the vertical correlation disappears for spatial frequencies p greater than 3.6 μm^− 1.     

Effect of RF-plasma deposition parameters on the composition and properties of organic layers deposited on glass fibers

Thin films were deposited from vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) and tetravinylsilane (TVS) by radio frequency (RF) cold plasma operated in a pulsed mode on the surface of E-glass fibers. Film thickness and molecular structure was controlled by the length of plasma cycle expressed as ratio of time on/time off (t_on/t_off). It was found that t_on as short as 1 ms was long enough for vinylsilane precursor gas fragmentation. Time t_off was the main parameter controlling structural variables of the deposited films. Short t_off led to apparently disordered and cross-linked structure. Increased t_off led to more uniform films with enhanced properties compared to the short t_off deposited films. Only films prepared under long t_off improved adhesion between the glass fiber and polyester resin as measured employing the micro-droplet test. Strong effect of the molecular structure of the vinylsilane precursor has also been observed under the conditions used. VTES film deposited under t_on/t_off = 1:999 increased interfacial adhesion only by 20%, TVS film deposited at 1:99 improved adhesion by 48%, compared to the solution deposited coating of the VTES used commercially.     

A two-species model of a two-dimensional sandpile surface: a case of asymptotic roughening

We present and analyze a model of an evolving sandpile surface in (2 + 1) dimensions where the dynamics of mobile grains (ρ(x, t)) and immobile clusters (h(x, t)) are coupled. Our coupling models the situation where the sandpile is flat on average, so that there is no bias due to gravity. We find anomalous scaling: the expected logarithmic smoothing at short length and time scales gives way to roughening in the asymptotic limit, where novel and non-trivial exponents are found.     

Response of thin NE102A scintillator films to fission fragments

The pulse height response of NE102A plastic scintillator films to fragment ions from ²⁵²Cf spontaneous fission has been investigated as a function of fragment time-of-flight and film thickness t in the range 1–15 μm. For velocities close to the two peaks in the fragment velocity spectrum and for films of either t ? 9 μm or t ? 3 μm, an approximately linear relationship between response and fragment velocity is found. For films of thickness 3–6 μm or for fragments from symmetric or highly asymmetric fission. deviations from the linear dependence are observed. The response increases rapidly with film thickness in the range t = 3–6 μm and saturates at t ? 9 μm for both light and heavy fragments. The possible role of surface effects in these phenomena is discussed.     

Diffusion kinetics of Au through Pt films about 2000 and 6000 Å thick studied with Auger spectroscopy

The diffusion kinetics of Au through Pt films were studied because of the frequent use of PtAu metallizations in semiconductor technology and because Au is often undesirable in active semiconductor regions etc. that are in contact with the Pt. PtAu couples with approximately 2000 Å and 6000 Å Pt films were heat treated between 250° and 350°C in 1 atm N₂ ambient. Surface composition and depth profiles were measured using Auger spectroscopy and ion milling. Au was found to diffuse initially through thin Pt films (< 6000 Å) by grain boundary migration and more than 10¹⁵ atoms cm^?2 of Au crossed the Pt film when the bulk of the Pt contained very little Au (?1 at.%). For 2250 Å Pt films on Au, the time t(X = 0.5) for half-saturation of the Pt surface with Au was given by t(0.5) = 1.2 X 10^?7X exp (0.96 eV/kT) min, where X is the fractional Au concentration in the first 7 Å of the surface. This diffusion rate is relatively fast; e.g.t(0.5)≈7 min for a 2250 Å Pt film at 350°C. At t(0.5) the bulk of the Pt contained less than 1 at.% Au and t(0.5) was proportional to Pt film thickness near 2000 to 6000 Å.     

Characterization of Ni-Cr thin films by X-ray analysis

The X-ray microstructures of sputtered 78at.%Ni-22at.%Cr thin films ranging from 20 to 200 nm thick were determined. Phase identification of the films indicated a disordered solid solution of chromium in nickel and that the structure of Ni-Cr is, on the atomic scale, a predominately cubic close-packed lattice mixed with a small amount of h.c.p. layers. All films showed lattice contraction normal to the film surface. The magnitude of the normal component of the macrostrain increased with the thickness of the film, at first rapidly, then leveling off when t ⩾ 100 nm. The crystallite size also varied systematically with the thickness of the film: the thicker the film, the larger the crystallite size. The twin fault probabilities were found to be significantly higher (β ⩾ 0.036) than those of the sputtered pure metal films. The presence of h.c.p. layers in the Ni-Cr cubic lattice contributed to a maximum value of the twin fault probability β (β = 0.076) in the film 200 nm thick. A correlation between β and the electrical resistivity ϱ was observed.     

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of Cu thin film growth

A three-dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo technique has been developed for simulating the growth of thin Cu films. The model involves incident atom attachment, surface diffusion of the atoms on the growing surface and atom detachment from the growing surface. A significant improvement in calculation of activation barriers for the surface atom diffusion on the growing film was made. The related effects caused by surface atom diffusion were taken into account. The results showed that there exist a transition temperature T_t at a certain deposition rate. When the substrate temperature approaches T_t, the growing surface becomes smoother and the relative density of the films increases. The surface roughness minimizes and the relative density saturates at T_t. The surface roughness increases with increased substrate temperature when the temperature is higher than T_t. T_t is a function of the deposition rate. The influence of the deposition rate on the surface roughness is dependent on the substrate temperature. The simulation results also showed that the relative density decreases with increasing deposition rate and average thickness of the film.     

Dielectric Behavior of the Film Formed on Mica Cleaved in Moist Air

Water adsorbed on a freshly peeled mica crystal causes the loss tangent, D, to increase by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. The nature of the film is investigated as a function of relative humidity by the measurement of D for the frequency range 100 to 50,000 c/s with a capacitor comprising concentric, parallel, circular electrodes of different diameter on opposite sides of the dielectric sheet. This geometry is then analyzed as consisting of the two regions of that within the plates where the electric field, E, is normal to the dielectric plane and that at the edge where tangential E exists. The first is considered in terms of an equivalent circuit for a two layered dielectric. The second is considered in terms of transmission line concepts. It is predicted and verified that the adsorbed film causes the first component to vary as 1/t and the second as √t where t is the thickness of the crystal. Numerical solutions are used to derive the behavior of D, R, and C of the adsorbed film itself. D for the normal direction is ~0.4 and follows a frequency dependency like fresh snow. Resistivities normal to and parallel to cleavage are considerably different while C is much less than expected for a surface film. It is suggested that the surface film is not continuous but instead is localized in patches.     

Photopatterning of heterostructured polymer Langmuir-Blodgett films

Heterostructured polymer Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film prepared by using poly(N-dodecylacrylamide-co-t-butyl 4-vinylphenyl carbonate) (p(DDA-tBVPC53)) and poly(N-neopentyl methacrylamide-co-9-anthrylmethyl methacrylate) (p(nPMA-AMMA10)) polymer LB films which can act as photogenerator layers were investigated. Patterns with a resolution of 0.75 μm were obtained on heterostructured polymer LB films composed of 4 layers of p(nPMA-AMMA10) LB film (top layers) and 40 layers of p(DDA-tBVPC53) LB film (under layers) on a silicon wafer by deep UV irradiation followed by development with 1% tetramethylammonium hydroxide aqueous solution. The sensitivity of the heterostructured polymer LB films was improved without loss of the resolution compared with p(DDA-tBVPC53) LB film. The etch resistance of the heterostructured polymer LB films was sufficiently good to allow patterning of a copper film suitable for photomask fabrication.     

Temperature effect on structure and surface morphology of indium tin oxide films deposited by reactive ion-beam sputtering

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited by reactive ion-beam sputtering. The relationship among the surface morphology, the resistivity ρ of the films, the substrate temperature T_S and the film thickness t_F was investigated. The heat power from the ion source during the sputtering was 265 W. T_S increased from 30 to 145 °C with an increase of t_F. The films thinner than 187 nm at T_S lower than 120 °C were amorphous, the film surface was as smooth as the substrate. The films deposited at T_S in the range between 135 and 145 °C were polycrystalline. So, the films thicker than 375 nm were in a multilayer structure of a polycrystalline layer on an amorphous layer. The surface of the polycrystalline films became rough. ρ of the films suddenly decreased at t_F of 375 nm, where the structure of the films changed. Next, the amorphous films with t_F of 39 nm were annealed in the atmosphere. The film structure changed to a polycrystalline structure at annealing temperature T_A of 350 °C. However, the surface roughness of all the films was almost same. As a result, the substrate temperature during the sputtering was important for the deposition of the films with a very smooth surface.     

Residual compressive stress in sputter-deposited TiC films on steel substrates

Polycrystalline TiC films with thickness between 0.1 and 2.8 microm were deposited by r.f. sputtering onto 1010 steel and borosilicate glass substrates at 200°C. All films were found to be in a state of compression. For a film grown under a given set of deposition conditions, the incremental compressive stress, i.e. the average stress in the uppermost deposited layer, was generally found to be largest near the film-substrate interface and to become constant with film thickness t_f for t_f ? 0.3 microm. However, for a given t_f the incremental stress increased with a decrease in the argon sputtering pressure P_Ar. Experimental results showed that the incremental compressive stress in bulk films could be directly related to the trapped argon concentration. Argon incorporation is due to the burial of energetic species incident on the growing film surface from two primary sources: energetic neutrals produced by Ar⁺ ions scattered off the target in binary collisions and Ar⁺ ions accelerated to the substrate owing to its induced negative potential with respect to the positive space charge region in the r.f. discharge. The trapped argon concentration from both contributions increased with decreasing P_Ar. All films grown on steel substrates exhibited good adhesion as indicated by indentation and diamond stylus scratch tests. The residual compressive stress in the films was found to be beneficial for wear-related applications in which the film was subjected to a large tensile stress.     

Comparison of growth mechanisms of silicon thin films prepared by HWCVD with PECVD

Hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of Si thin films show different growth kinetic processes. According to the fractal analysis, the root-mean-square surface roughness δ and the film thickness d have the relation of δ ∼ d^β, where β is the dynamic scaling exponent related to the film growth mechanism. It was found that β is 0.44 for Si films prepared by HWCVD and 0.24 by PECVD. The former refers to a stochastic deposition while the latter corresponds to the finite diffusion of the radicals. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the sticking process of growth radicals play an important role in determining the morphology of Si films.     

Ultrathin polymer Langmuir-Blodgett films for microlithography

We describe photolithographic properties of poly(N-dodecylmethacrylamide-co-t-butyl 4-vinylphenyl carbonate) [p(DDMA-tBVPC)], which has a structure being subject to main chain scission and deprotection of t-butoxycarbonyloxy group by deep UV irradiation. Positive-tone patterns of the p(DDMA-tBVPC) Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film with 60 layers were obtained by deep UV light irradiation followed by development with alkaline aqueous solution. The resolution of the pattern was 0.75 μm, which is the resolution limit of the photomask employed. The etching resistance of p(DDMA-tBVPC) LB film deposited for the pattern of the gold film is also investigated.     

Fluctuating Surfaces of Growing 4He Crystals in Aerogel

Crystal-superfluid interface of ⁴He in aerogel was shown to advance smoothly in a high temperature creep growth region above 0.6 K. In this report, we focused on the shape of the growing interface in the region and attempted to analyze the roughness of interfaces. The growth of rough interfaces is very common in nature and is known to often follow a scaling law; roughness usually increases with time and saturates in the later stage. We measured the roughness w(t) defined as the standard deviation of the interface height as a function of time t. It was found that w(t) in 98 % porosity aerogel initially increased with t and decreased after a particular time in the later stage. The abrupt reduction of roughness in the end of crystallization is unusual if it is intrinsic in the crystallization in aerogel.     

Growth and morphology of ultra-thin Al films on liquid substrates studied by atomic force microscopy

We study the growth process and morphology evolution of the ultra-thin Al films deposited on silicone oil surfaces by using atomic force microscopy. Initially, the deposited atoms nucleate and form compact clusters on the liquid surfaces. Then the clusters perform Brownian motion and adhere upon impact, which results in the ramified islands. Finally a continuous film forms as the nominal film thickness d increases. The mean size of the grains in the compact clusters and ramified islands is of the order of 10¹ nm. The ultra-thin Al films exhibit a self-affine surface morphology and therefore the dynamic scaling analysis is performed. It is found that the growth exponent β = 0.23 ± 0.05. In the range d = 0.1-1.0 nm, the roughness exponent α varies from α ≥ 1 to < 1. The physical interpretation for the crossover of the scaling behavior is presented.     

Structure evolution on annealing of copper-doped carbon film

Thin copper-doped (8 at.% Cu) carbon film was deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering of composite graphite/copper target in argon plasma. The evolution of film structure on annealing at 600 °C in a vacuum has been studied by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The as-deposited film was amorphous with copper atoms uniformly distributed over the film volume. Annealing resulted in precipitation of copper particles within carbon film followed by the decrease in the density of copper particles and increase in particle average size with annealing time due to diffusion coalescence within the ensemble of copper particles. The coalescence occurred by the mixed mechanism of bulk and surface diffusion of copper atoms within carbon film that contained a large number of structural defects. As a result, the mean radius of copper particles in ensemble changed as R¯⁵ ∼ t.     

Gate Voltage Tuned Quantum Superconductor to Insulator Transition in an Ultrathin Bismuth Film Revisited

We explore the implications of Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless (BKT) critical behavior and variable-range hopping on the two-dimensional (2D) quantum superconductor–insulator (QSI) transition driven by tuning the gate voltage. To illustrate the potential and the implications of this scenario we analyze sheet resistance data of Parendo et al. taken on a gate voltage tuned ultrathin amorphous bismuth film. The finite size scaling analysis of the BKT-transition uncovers a limiting length L preventing the correlation length to diverge and to enter the critical regime deeply. Nevertheless the attained BKT critical regime reveals consistency with two parameter quantum scaling and an explicit quantum scaling function determined by the BKT correlation length. The two parameter scaling yields for the zero temperature critical exponents of the QSI-transition the estimates $z\overline{\nu }\simeq 3/2$ , z?3 and $\overline{\nu} \simeq 1/2$ , revealing that hyperscaling is violated and in contrast to finite temperature disorder is relevant at zero temperature. Furthermore, $z\overline{\nu }\simeq 3/2$ is also consistent with the two variable quantum scaling form associated with a variable-range hopping controlled insulating ground state.