Epitaxial and island growth of Ag/Si(001) by rf magnetron sputtering

Abstract

In this study, we examined the microstructure of Ag films grown on Si(001) substrates by radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering in a synchrotron x-ray scattering experiment. At a low rf power of 0.22 W/cm2, the film was initially nucleated in the form of fine-grained epitaxial film with the crystalline axes parallel to the substrate crystalline axes. As the growth proceeded further, it changed to nonepitaxial three dimensional island growth. The Ag islands were not epitaxial, but grew preferentially along the 〈111〉 direction. At a higher rf power of 0.44 W/cm2, the Ag film developed a nonepitaxial island growth from the early stage. Annealing the films at 500 °C increased the island size and enhanced the crystalline quality. The thin epitaxial film grown at the low rf power was recrystallized into islands during the annealing. This study suggests that it is feasible to grow heteroepitaxial Ag films on silicon substrates even by a sputtering process when the energy of the sputtered particles is minimized.

Application of microfabricated reactors for operando Raman studies of catalytic oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde on silver

“…Fig. 3 shows the sputter-coated silver before and after treatment in air at 873 K. It has been reported that sputter-coated silver on silicon wafer shows fine columnar structures, epitaxial films or islands depending on sputtering conditions [35,36]. Fig.…”

Surface morphological modification of Pt thin films induced by growth temperature

“…5 However, the performances of metallic thin films are strongly affected by their grain size distribution, crystalline orientation, interface and surface structures, etc. 6,7 In order to clearly evaluate their natures and to control a better fabricating condition, an accurate determination of the physical parameters of metallic thin films is very essential for both fundamental and technological reasons.…”

Ion-beam mixing in an immiscible Fe/Ag multilayer film

“…The island type of growth of Ag films observed by us is consistent with the report that the Ag film, of a thickness less than 10 nm, shows three-dimensional island-like growth. 22 The development of a microstructure upon irradiation to different fluences is shown in Figs. 5-8.…”