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This paper analyses the three-dimensional (3-D) surface morphology of thin films of Fe on Cu nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by Direct-Current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposited on glass substrates. Four samples coated with copper and iron and deposited on the glass surface were used as research materials. Thin films were obtained by means of DC reactive magnetron sputtering method. The copper coating of each sample was 55 nm thick. In addition, the second, third and fourth samples had a coating of iron, with a thickness of 40 nm, 55 nm, and 70 nm, respectively.The sample surface images were obtained by using an atomic force microscope operating in a contactless mode.The 3-D of the surface samples was divided into motifs of significant peaks and pits using MountainsMap® Premium software, which uses the watershed segmentation algorithm. In addition, the highest and lowest points of motifs are localized. The parameters relating to all the segmented motifs consistent with ISO 25178-2: 2012 have been generated using the software. They allow for motif analysis, detection of essential characteristics and their characterization in terms of surface dimensions, volume, curvature, shape, structure etc. MountainsMap® Premium software makes it possible to perform 3-D segmentation of sample surface images and identify all sorts of motifs, such as peaks, pits or irregular shapes in correlation with the surface statistical parameters. The analysis of motifs helps to understand their functional role in the test surface, in order to evaluate the relation among the 3-D micro-textured surface.

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In the present study, ZnO and Al:ZnO (AZO) thin films were prepared by reactive RF sputtering on quartz substrates at a constant oxygen partial pressure and a typical sputtering power. Films were annealed at different temperatures in argon ambient in the oven to study their various structural and optical properties. It was understood that introducing Al into ZnO structure would affect the ZnO crystalline structure noticeably. It was observed that annealing had great influence on various properties of thin films while ZnO film showed low crystallinity, Al doping into ZnO structure pronounced significant improvement in both crystallinity and particle sizes. It was found that crystal structures, average crystalline sizes, and topology of all thin films were modified enormously by post-annealing. It was shown that films transparency fluctuated by annealing, in which the transparency of AZO thin film annealed at 500°C was much greater than others. Annealing led to decrease optical band gap of all annealed films from 3.31 to 3.26 eV for ZnO and 4 to 3.4 eV for AZO films. Photoluminescence manifested that blue emission in as-deposited film led to two different blue and violet emissions in all AZO and ZnO films. It was identified that the emission intensity of AZO film annealed at 500°C was 12 times more than other ZnO and AZO films.

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The study presents a multi-scale microstructural characterization of three-dimensional (3-D) micro-textured surface of titanium nitride (TiN) thin films prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering in correlation with substrate temperature variation. Topographical characterization of the surfaces, obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis, was realized by an innovative multifractal method which may be applied for AFM data. The surface micromorphology demonstrates that the multifractal geometry of TiN thin films can be characterized at nanometer scale by the generalized dimensions D q and the singularity spectrum f(α). Furthermore, to improve the 3-D surface characterization according with ISO 25178-2:2012, the most relevant 3-D surface roughness parameters were calculated. To quantify the 3-D nanostructure surface of TiN thin films a multifractal approach was developed and validated, which can be used for the characterization of topographical changes due to the substrate temperature variation.

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