Chemically Clean Planar Interface Synthesis: Substrate Surface and Interface Cross Section Microscopy

Abstract

<jats:p>An ultra high vacuum (UHV) planar interface unit has been constructed to study the effect of interface/boundary structure and chemistry on properties. We report here initial observations of substrate morphology and chemistry prior to bonding and resulting interface morphology obtained using austenitic stainless steel.</jats:p><jats:p>To synthesize chemically clean planar interfaces by diffusion bonding, the substrate must be macroscopically and microscopically flat and chemically clean. Macro-flatness, necessary for bonding to occur over large areas, was ensured by conventional mechanical polishing and lapping. Substrate surfaces were cleaned by a broad (3cm) 500 eV ion beam (Ar or Xe) at 15° incidence. The resulting changes in substrate near-atomic-scale roughness and chemistry were analyzed using Auger spectroscopy (AES) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Before ion beam cleaning, the sub-strates exhibited high oxygen and carbon contamination (Fig la). Both Xe and Ar ion cleaning reduced these values; the result for 5 minutes Ar cleaning is shown in Fig lb.</jats:p>