Investigation of Stereometric and Fractal Patterns of Spin‐Coated LuMnO₃ Thin Films

Abstract

In this paper, we have performed qualitative and quantitative analysis of LuMnO3 thin films surfaces, deposited by spin coating over Pt(111)/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates, to evaluate their spatial patterns as a function of the film’s sintering temperature. Atomic force microscopy was employed to obtain topographic maps that were extensively analyzed via image processing techniques and mathematical tools. 3D (three-dimensional) topographical images revealed that films sintered at 650°C and 750°C presented the formation of smoother surfaces, while the film sintered at 850°C displayed a rougher surface with a root mean square roughness of ∼2.5 nm. On the other direction, the height distribution of the surface for all films has similar asymmetries and shape, although the film sintered using the highest temperature showed the lower density of rough peaks and a sharper peak shape. The advanced fractal parameters revealed that the film sintered at 850°C is dominated by low spatial frequencies, showing less spatial complexity, higher microtexture homogeneity, and uniform height distribution. These results suggest that the combination of stereometric and fractal parameters can be especially useful for identification of unique topographic spatial patterns in LuMnO3 thin films, helping in their implementation in technological applications, such as photovoltaic solar cells and information magnetic date storage and spintronic devices.

Fractal Theory in Thin Films: Literature Review and Bibliometric Evidence on Applications and Trends

“…Properties of thin films, such as sheet resistance, have been related to fractal dimension and, therefore, the concept is being used in the design of ohmic, barrier contacts, thin film transistors, thin film capacitors, etc. [26,27]. The trend can also be attributed…”

“…Properties of thin films, such as sheet resistance, have been related to fractal dimension and, therefore, the concept is being used in the design of ohmic, barrier contacts, thin film transistors, thin film capacitors, etc. [26,27]. The trend can also be attributed to the enhanced technology of topography information acquisition, i.e., there is powerful equipment for surface characterization, such as atomic force microscope (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM).…”

Morphological and multifractal properties of Cr thin films deposited onto different substrates

“…The lacunarity exponent ( σ ) obtained from the linear fits were recorded to be 0.354 (BK7), 0.0167 (Si), and 0.0043 (Glass). As can be seen, the Cr thin film deposited onto Glass substrate exhibited the surface with less σ value, indicating that this film has a more homogeneous surface microtexture (Marques et al, 2021).…”

An Inquiry-Based Introduction to Atomic Force Microscopy Techniques through Optical Storage Disc Surface Imaging

“…8 AFM, as the "hands and eyes of the nanoworld", 9 continues to be used to innovate the nanowriting process for data storage 10 and in the exploration of novel materials suitable for ultrafast, nonvolatile, high density memory storage. 11 There is literature 12,13 characterizing CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. However, there is a paucity of instructional resources suitable for adoption in an undergraduate chemistry curriculum supporting students' ability to learn AFM techniques needed to characterize OSDs and link their key submicroscopic physical properties to how data are stored.…”

“…Innovations have since allowed for nanowriting without the use of heat and other modified polymer surfaces . AFM, as the “hands and eyes of the nanoworld”, continues to be used to innovate the nanowriting process for data storage and in the exploration of novel materials suitable for ultrafast, nonvolatile, high density memory storage . There is literature , characterizing CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.…”