The platinum etching during fluorination of the Pt surface of a Pt/LaF3/Si(111) sandwich structure is investigated by means of X‐ray methods, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). XeF2 and F2 have been used as sources of fluorine atoms. The X‐ray triple‐crystal rocking curve measurements show a smoothing of the rough Pt surface due to the interaction with fluorine. AFM observations confirm this change in surface roughness. For verification of these data, X‐ray θ–2θ scans have been performed for several samples using a Seeman‐Bohlin X‐ray diffractometer. The decrease of the integrated Pt peak intensity for a sample that had been fluorinated for about 30 h in XeF2 shows a decrease of the film thickness from initially 40 nm by 25 ± 5%. QCM measurements showed an initial increase of the total mass followed by a decrease after 80 min. We conclude that the surface smoothing can be explained by the etching of platinum with the formation of a platinum fluoride layer during the first stage of this process followed by decomposition and desorption of this PtFx layer.
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