In this study, Cu thin films with layer thicknesses of 5, 25, and 50 nm were prepared by DC magnetron-sputtering method and their three dimensional (3-D) surface topography were investigated. Concretely, the 3-D surface roughness of samples was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), fractal analysis of the 3-D AFM-images and power spectral density (PSD) function. Also the content of thin films was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The thin films were prepared onto glass and p-type silicon (100) substrates by DC magnetron-sputtering method and were studied over square areas of 4.4 lm 9 4.4 lm using AFM and fractal analysis. The 3-D surface morphology revealed the fractal geometry of Cu thin films at nanometer scale, which can be quantitatively estimated by the fractal dimension D f that was determined by cube counting method, based on the linear interpolation type. The results from AFM data indicated the possible presence of superstructures on the growth process of Cu nanostructures that were in relatively good agreement with XRD data and PSD.
Cobalt/carbon nanocomposite coating (Co NPs @ a-C: H), which consist of cobalt nanoparticles buried in hydrogenated amorphous carbon are prepared by RFsputtering and RF-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrates. In these processes, the coatings are produced from a cobalt sputtered target and acetylene reactant gas. The crystalline structure and surface topography of the deposited films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The AFM shows that the average size distribution depends on the deposition conditions and RMS varies from 3.5 up to 6 nm. The XRD analyses indicate the presence of cobalt nanostructure as centered face cubic phase and its oxide, but with no evidence of carbide structure. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis was used to identify the elements composition in the films and the ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry is used to study surface plasmon resonance bands of Co nanoparticles.
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