X-ray reflectivity and scanning-tunneling-microscope study of kinetic roughening of sputter-deposited gold films during growth

Abstract

An in situ x-ray reflectivity study of the dynamic evolution of a growing interface was carried out for gold sputter-deposited onto a polished silicon substrate. X-ray reflectivity data were recorded during growth for thicknesses of the gold film ranging from 50 to 3500 A. A progressive kinetic roughening of the gold-vacuum interface was observed and the time-dependent interfacial width exhibits a power-law behavior. Aided by scanning-tunneling-microscopy measurements the scaling exponents were determined and compared with theoretical studies.

Ultra-thin films for plasmonics: a technology overview

“…The accent was put on in situ measurements that can allow for better characterization of the growth dynamics on Au layers. X-ray reflectivity and scanning tunnelling microscopy are the ones mainly used [40,41] but in situ Auger electron spectroscopy [42] and ex situ pull testing [43] were also reported among others.…”

Dynamic smoothening and tribological properties of pulsed-DC sputtered DLC based nanocomposite films

“…Thus it is of practical concern to identify the role of growth mechanisms to optimize the deposition conditions for smooth film topography. Over the last decade considerable attention has been paid to the theoretical and experimental aspects of dynamic roughening of films grown on smooth surface [5][6][7][8][9], whereas little attention has been paid to films grown on rough surfaces where smoothening phenomenon may occur [10][11][12]. Recently, we have reported the dynamic growth behavior for thick TiC/a-C films grown on smooth surface by pulsed-DC sputtering for different pulse frequencies [13].…”

Thermal re-emission model

“…Whereas in standard MBE type of growths, the vapor atoms are targetted in a direction normal to the substrate, so that growth is decided by the local environment only, in case of shadowing growths by sputter deposition, vapor atoms are incident at random angles to the surface, so that non-local factors gain prominence in this case [7][8][9][10][11]. There have been several experimental follow-ups too of this sputtering mechanism [12][13][14].…”