Characterization of Platinum-Based Thin Films Deposited by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) Method

Abstract

The current work aimed to characterize the morphology, chemical, and mechanical properties of Pt and PtTi thin films deposited via thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) method on glass and silicon substrates. The deposited thin films were characterized by means of a scanning electron microscope technique (SEM). The quantitative elemental microanalysis was done using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The tribological properties were studied by a ball-on-disc tribometer, and the mechanical properties were measured using nanoindentation tests. The roughness, as well as the micro and nanoscale features, were characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The wettability of the deposited Pt and PtTi thin films was investigated by the surface free energy evaluation (SFE) method. The purpose of our study was to prove the potential applications of Pt-based thin films in fields, such as nanoelectronics, fuel cells, medicine, and materials science.

AFM Nanotribomechanical Characterization of Thin Films for MEMS Applications

“…The thin-film thickness normally includes one or few atomic layers. The mechanical properties of these films are much more strongly influenced by grain size, grain shape, crystallographic texture, the interatomic potentials and surface energy [14,[17][18][19].…”

Special Issue: Carbon–Refractory Metal Nanostructures: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications

“…Adhesion can be enhanced by an intermediate titanium (Ti) protective coating between a Pt film and the substrate or including the Ti into the Pt matrix. This is supported by the fact that these two metals exhibit quite similar melting points: T Ti = 1941 K and T Pt = 2041.4 K. At the same time, the state of surfaces in the operating conditions of these components becomes more important due to the development and miniaturization of device components [ 2 ].…”

Optical and Nanomechanical Properties of C Coated BN Thin Film Deposited by Thermionic Vacuum Arc Technique

“…3 Especially, TVA shows high performance for the high melting point materials and ceramic materials thin film depositions. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Early design TVA can deposit only metal vapor plasma and metallic thin film deposition. Nowadays, TVA used to deposit high melting point materials and ceramic materials deposition such as B, C, ZnO, ZrO 2 , B 4 C, W, Ti, SnO, … and etc.…”

“…The flexibility of the TVA method enables to produce thin films on glass and silicon substrates. 4 Recent studies focus on generating layers that contain more than one material in order to obtain desired properties. 21,22 Most used substrates are glass, Si and PET which are needed to investigate electrical and optical properties of coatings.…”