We present a molecular dynamics simulation scheme that we apply to study the time evolution of the self-organized growth process of metal cluster assemblies formed by sputter-deposited gold atoms on a planar surface. The simulation model incorporates the characteristics of the plasma-assisted deposition process and allows for an investigation over a wide range of deposition parameters. It is used to obtain data for the cluster properties which can directly be compared to recently published experimental data for gold on polystyrene (M. Schwartzkopf \textit{et al}., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces \textbf{7}, 13547 (2015)). While good agreement is found between the two, the simulations additionally provide valuable time-dependent real-space data of the surface morphology some of whose details are hidden in the reciprocal-space scattering images that were used for the experimental analysis.
In this paper, oxidation of Cu during physical sputtering deposition in a high purity and low pressure Ar atmosphere without introducing O2 gas flow was studied systemically. It was found that various flexible Cu-based films could be obtained by simply adjusting deposition parameters. Electrical and optical testing results showed that the achieved pure Cu films and Cu+Cu2O composite films both presented an intriguing combination of metal and semiconductor characteristics. It is expected that such Cu-based films with a superior conductivity and a solar-window bandgap may have fascinating potent…
Cross contaminations are observed on sample surfaces by AES and XPS, if multiple samples are mounted on one sample holder and a neighbouring sample was sputter depth profiled. During sputter depth profiling sputtered material is deposited on inner surfaces of the instrument. In a secondary sputter process, which is due to species leaving the primary sputter target with higher kinetic energy, the previously deposited material is transported from the inner surfaces to the other samples mounted on the sample holder. This Reflective Sputtering is utilized to deposit ultra-thin layers on sample sur…
A method for combinatorial sputter deposition of thin films on microparticles is presented. The method is developed for a laboratory-scale magnetron sputter system and uses a piezoelectric actuator to agitate the microparticles through oscillation. Custom-made components enable to agitate up to nine separate batches of particles simultaneously. Due to the agitation, the whole surface of the particles can be exposed to the sputter flux and thus can be completely covered with a thin film. By sputtering a CrMnFeCoNi high entropy alloy target, separate batches of polystyrene microspheres (500 um m…
Epitaxial copper thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The adatoms during deposition are influenced by deposition parameters which cause variations in thin film properties. XRD and FESEM studies were done to get an insight into the growth mechanisms of the films. A modeling has been done on the epitaxial thin film growth with sputtering process. The parameters during sputtering like, sputtering yield, pressure, temperature, current density, deposition time were related and an attempt has been made to analyze the sputtering process.
A sputter deposition source for use in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) is described and some properties of the source are analyzed. The operating principle is based on the design developed by Mayr et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 84, 094103 (2013)], where electrons emitted from a filament ionize argon gas, and the Ar$^+$ ions are accelerated to the target. In contrast to the original design, two grids are used to direct a large fraction of the Ar$^+$ ions to the target, and the source has a housing cooled by liquid nitrogen to reduce contaminations. The source has been used for deposition of zirconium, a mat…
We modify the theory of nanoscale patterns produced by ion bombardment with concurrent impurity deposition to take into account the effect that the near-surface impurities have on the collision cascades. As the impurity concentration is increased, the resulting theory successively yields a flat surface, a rippled surface with its wavevector along the projected direction of ion incidence, and a rippled surface with its wavevector rotated by 90 degrees. Exactly the same morphological transitions were observed in recent experiments in which silicon was bombarded with an argon ion beam and gold wa…
High quality Van der Waals chalcogenides are important for phase change data storage, thermoelectrics, and spintronics. Using a combination of statistical design of experiments and density functional theory, we clarify how the out-of-equilibrium van der Waals epitaxial deposition methods can improve the crystal quality of Sb2Te3 films. We compare films grown by radio frequency sputtering and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The growth factors that influence the crystal quality for each method are different. For PLD grown films a thin amorphous Sb2Te3 seed layer most significantly influences the …
In this paper we report the deposition of epitaxial thin films of Nd1-xSrxCoO3 with x=0, 0.2 and 0.5 on single crystalline substrates (SrTiO3 and LaAlO3) carried out by means of rf-magnetron sputtering. The deposited films are all completely oriented and epitaxial and characterized by a nanocrystalline morphology. As-deposited films have an average roughness around 1 nm while after the thermal treatment this increases up to 20 nm while preserving the nanocrystalline morphology. All the films deposited on SrTiO3 have shown to be under a certain degree of tensile strain while those on the LaAlO3…
Despite the prevalence of sputter deposition in the microelectronics industry, it has seen very limited applications for graphene electronics. In this letter, we report systematic investigation of the sputtering induced damages in graphene and identify the energetic sputtering gas neutrals as the primary cause of graphene disorder. We further demonstrate a grazing-incidence sputtering configuration that strongly suppresses fast neutral bombardment and retains graphene structure integrity, creating considerably lower damage than electron-beam evaporation. Such sputtering technique yields fully …
Phase-selective growth of water-soluble strontium aluminate via sputtering deposition for freestanding oxide membranes
TU Wien（维也纳工业大学）；Université Caen Normandie（诺曼底大学）；CEA（法国原子能和替代能源委员会）；ENSICAEN（恩西西安高等学院）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；CIMAP UMR6252（CIMAP联合研究实验室6252）；Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)（加泰罗尼亚纳米科学和纳米技术研究所）；CSIC（西班牙国家研究委员会）；BIST（巴塞罗那科学与技术研究院）；University of Geneva（日内瓦大学）；Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung（莱布尼兹晶体生长研究所）；ALBA Synchrotron Light Source（阿尔巴同步辐射光源）
From Deposition Stress to Surface Reactivity: Strain-Dependent Hydrogen Evolution on Sputtered Platinum Thin Films
Ruhr-University Bochum（波鸿鲁尔大学）；University Duisburg-Essen（杜伊斯堡-埃森大学）；Center for Interface-Dominated High Performance Materials, (ZGH) Ruhr-University Bochum（波鸿鲁尔大学界面主导高性能材料中心）；University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学）
This paper reports the study of growth kinetics of ion beam sputtered aluminum thin films. Dynamic scaling theory was used to derive the kinetics from AFM measurements. AFM imaging revealed that surface incorporates distinctly different morphologies. Variation in deposition times resulted in such distinctiveness. The growth governing static (alpha) as well as dynamic (beta) scaling exponents have been determined. The exponent (alpha) decreased as the deposition time increased from 3 to 15 minutes. Consequently, the interfacial width (xi) also decreased with critical length (Lc), accompanied wi…
A combinatorial thin-film synthesis approach combined with a high throughput analysis methodology was successfully applied to synthesize TiN/Ni coatings with optimum mechanical properties. The synthesis approach consists of the deposition of TiN/Ni coatings with the Ni content ranging from around 0 to 20 at.%. by reactive magnetron sputtering with a well-defined composition gradient, so that almost all possible compositions are produced in one single coating under identical conditions, removing uncertainties from processing conditions. The analysis methodology continuously screened the microst…
A tension increment after sputter deposition of 1 nm of WSi2 onto sputtered Si was observed at low Ar gas pressures. Wafer curvature data on multilayers were found to have a periodic variation corresponding to the multilayer period, and this permitted statistical analyses to improve the sensitivity to small stresses. The observation of tension instead of compression in the initial stage of growth is new and a model invoking surface rearrangement is invoked. The data also bear on an unusual surface smoothing phenomena for sputtered Si surfaces caused by the sputter deposition of WSi2 . We furth…
Reactive dual ion beam sputter deposition of AlN thin films was carried out for the analysis of surface growth characteristics by Atomic Force Microscopy. The variation of roughness as a function of deposition time was analysed by Dynamic Scaling Theory (DST). Two distinct exponents, static and dynamic were used to unravel the film growth characteristics. As the deposition time increased, static scaling exponent decreased gradually and substrate surface coverage was increased which is indicated by a decrease in critical length Lc. The rms roughness of the film was increased from 1.99 to 3.42 n…
The article consists of four sections all dealing with the computational modeling of the sputtering process. The first section deals with the difference in Bismuth atomic layer deposition at different polar angle and ion flounce. In the second section, atomic layer deposition was studied as a function of incident Argon ion energy at different pressure conditions. A curve analogous to Bragg curve was obtained .In the third section TiOx films was developed by simulations. The sputtering parameters were varied to get different atomic layers. The variation of coverage with sticking coefficient was…
We have investigated the properties of interfaces between LaAlO3 films grown on SrTiO3 substrates singly terminated by TiO2. We used RF sputtering in a high-pressure oxygen atmosphere. The films are smooth, with flat surfaces. Transmission Electron Microscopy shows atomically sharp and continuous interfaces while EELS measurements show some slight intermixing. The elemental ratio of La to Al measured by EDX is found to be 1.07. Importantly, we find these interfaces to be non-conducting, indicating that the sputtered interface is not electronically reconstructed in the way reported for films gr…
Reactive magnetron sputtering enables the deposition of various thin films to be used for protective as well as optical and electronic applications. However, progressing target erosion during sputtering results in increased magnetic field strengths at the target surface. Consequently, the glow discharge, the target poisoning, and hence the morphology, crystal structure and stoichiometry of the prepared thin films are influenced. Therefore, these effects were investigated by varying the cathode current Im between 0.50 and 1.00 A, the magnetic field strength B between 45 and 90 mT, and the O2/(A…
Molecular dynamics simulations are often used to study sputtering and thin film growth. Compressive stresses in these thin films are generally assumed to be caused by a combination of forward sputtered (peened) built-in particles and entrapped working gas atoms. While the former are assumed to hold a predominant role, the effect of the latter on the interaction dynamics as well as thin film properties are scarcely clarified (concurrent or causative). The inherent overlay of the ion bombardment induced processes render an isolation of their contribution impracticable. In this work, this issue i…
The objective of this work was to study the RF sputtering process parameters optimisation for deposition of Silicon Nitride thin films. The process parameters chosen to be varied were deposition power, deposition duration, flow rate of argon and flow rate of nitrogen. The parameters were varied at three levels according to Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Surface topology, film composition, coating thickness, coating resistivity and refractive index were determined using SEM, XRD, profilometer, Semiconductor device analyser and UV spectrometer respectively. The measured film thickness values range…
We have presented the kinetic study of the very initial growth stages of an ultra thin film (40 $Å$- 150$Å$) of Ag sputter-deposited on Si(001) substrate containing native oxide using grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity (GIXR) technique and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). We observe that the film consists of mounds with the presence of voids. The thickness `d_{xray}' and the packing fraction `η' of the film as a function of time `t' follow a simple power law, d_{xray} $\thicksim t^{m} and η\thicksim $t^{n}$ with the exponent m = 0.58 and n = 0.37 respectively. We have quantitatively determined…
The step-wise growth of epitaxial Fe on Cu(001)/Si(001), investigated by in-situ polarized neutron reflectometry is presented. A sputter deposition system was integrated into the neutron reflectometer AMOR at the Swiss neutron spallation source SINQ, which enables the analysis of the microstructure and magnetic moments during all deposition steps of the Fe layer. We report on the progressive evolution of the accessible parameters describing the microstructure and the magnetic properties of the Fe film, which reproduce known features and extend our knowledge on the behavior of ultrathin iron fi…
We present simulations of metallization morphologies under ionized sputter deposition conditions, obtained by a new theoretical approach. By means of molecular dynamics simulations using a carefully designed interaction potential, we analyze the surface adsorption, reflection, and etching reactions taking place during Al physical vapor deposition, and calculate their relative probability. These probabilities are then employed in a feature-scale cellular-automaton simulator, which produces calculated film morphologies in excellent agreement with scanning-electron-microscopy data on ionized sput…
Al2O3 thin films have been deposited at substrate temperatures between 500°C to 600°C by reactive magnetron sputtering using an additional arbitrary substrate bias to tailor the energy distribution of the incident ions. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The film structure being amorphous, nanocrystalline, or crystalline was correlated with characteristic ion energy distributions. The evolving crystalline structure is connected with different levels of displacements per atom (dpa) in the growing film as being derived from…
Reactive pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering deposition of semiconducting yttrium oxide thin film in ultralow oxygen atmosphere: A spectroscopic and structural investigation of growth dynamics
Sputtering of PbTe crystals by Ar plasma with ion energies 50-550 eV is investigated. A dependence of sputter yields of the Te and Pb on the sputtering ion energy and sputtering time is measured. New phenomena: aperiodical oscillations of Pb and Te sputtering; a huge preference of Te sputtering reaching more than two orders of magnitude at the beginning of sputtering process; and a significant excess of Te integrated sputter yield over that of Pb for prolonged sputtering by low energy plasma at 50-160 eV, are observed. It is substantiated that these phenomena can be caused by the peculiarities…
Thin films of the correlated transition-metal oxide LaNiO$_3$ undergo a metal-insulator transition when their thickness is reduced to a few unit cells. Here, we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the evolution of the electronic structure across this transition in a series of epitaxial LaNiO$_3$ films of thicknesses ranging from 19 to 2 u.c. grown in situ by RF magnetron sputtering. Our data show a strong reduction of the electronic mean free path as the thickness is reduced below 5 u.c. This prevents the system from becoming electronically two-dimensional, as confirmed by t…
Solution-based methods represent the most widespread approach used to deposit hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite films for low-cost but efficient solar cells. However, solution-process techniques offer limited control over film morphology and crystallinity, and most importantly do not allow sequential film deposition to produce perovskite-perovskite heterostructures. Here the successful deposition of CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPI) thin films by RF-magnetron sputtering is reported, an industry-tested method to grow large area devices with precisely controlled stoichiometry. MAPI films are grown starting fr…
We have investigated morphology of the lateral surfaces of PbTe crystal samples grown from melt by the Bridgman method sputtered by Ar+ plasma with ion energy of 50-550 eV for 5-50 minutes under Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry (SNMS) conditions. The sputtered PbTe crystal surface was found to be simultaneously both the source of sputtered material and the efficient substrate for re-deposition of the sputtered material during the depth profiling. During sputtering PbTe crystal surface is forming the dimple relief. To be redeposited the sputtered Pb and Te form arrays of the microscopic surf…
We explore the effect of ionization fraction on the epitaxial growth of Cu film on Cu (111) substrate at room temperature. We compare thermal evaporation, dc magnetron sputtering (dcMS) and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). Three deposition conditions i.e. fully neutral, 50% ionized and 100% ionized flux were considered as thermal evaporation, dcMS and HiPIMS, respectively, for ~20000 adatoms. It is shown that higher ionization fraction of the deposition flux leads to smoother surfaces by two major mechanisms i.e. decreasing clustering in the vapor phase and bi-collision of hig…
Physics-separating artificial neural networks for predicting sputtering and thin film deposition of AlN in Ar/N$_2$ discharges on experimental timescales
Ruhr University Bochum（波鸿鲁尔大学）；Kiel University（基尔大学）
Momentum resolved photoemission spectroscopy indicates the instability of the Dirac surface state upon deposition of gold on the (0001) surface of the topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$. Based on the structure model derived from extended x-ray absorption fine structure experiments showing that gold atoms substitute bismuth atoms, first principles calculations provide evidence that a gap appears due to hybridization of the surface state with gold d-states near the Fermi level. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms affecting the stability of the surface state.
Atomically thin boron nitride (BN) nanosheets have been found an excellent substrate for noble metal particles enabled surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), thanks to their good adsorption of aromatic molecules, high thermal stability and weak Raman scattering. Faceted gold (Au) nanoparticles have been synthesized on BN nanosheets by a simple but controllable and reproducible sputtering and annealing method. The size and density of the Au particles can be controlled by sputtering time, current and annealing temperature etc. Under the same sputtering and annealing conditions, the Au parti…
We introduce a new Monte Carlo model based on a semi-empirical sputter yield parameter in ion-solid energetic collisions. This model circumvents the complexity of the existing statistical, classical and continuum models, most of which are difficult to relate to real experimental parameters, by its semi-empirical nature of direct reliance on the experimental values of the sputter yield. Constrained by this crucial experimental factor, the model then addresses the multidimensional nature of other accompanying physical processes stochastically; thus reducing the complexity of their computation. T…
We have carried out a detailed programme to explore the superconducting characteristics of reactive DC-magnetron sputtered NbN. The basic principle is to ignite a plasma using argon, and then to introduce a small additional nitrogen flow to achieve the nitridation of a Nb target. Subsequent sputtering leads to the deposition of NbN onto the host substrate. The characteristics of a sputtered film depend on a number of parameters: argon pressure, nitrogen flow rate and time-evolution profile, substrate material, etc. Crucially, the hysteresis in the target voltage as a function of the nitrogen f…
Using magnetron sputtering, a spatial composition spread approach was applied successfully to obtain 48-member libraries of the Bi2Sr2YxCa1-xCu2Oy (0.5<= x <=1)cuprate superconducting system. The libraries of each system were deposited onto (100) single crystal MgO, mounted on a water cooled rotating table, using two targets: the antiferromagnetic insulator Bi2Sr2YCu2Oy (P=98 W RF) and the hole doped superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy (P=44 W DC). A low chamber pressure of 0.81 mTorr argon is used to reduce scattering by the process gas. To minimize oxygen resputtering a substrate bias of -20 V was …
Films of (111)-textured Cu, Ni, and Cu$_x$Ni$_y$ were evaluated as substrates for chemical vapor deposition of graphene. A metal thickness of 400 nm to 700 nm was sputtered onto a substrate of $α-$Al$_2$O$_3$(0001) at temperatures of 250 C to 650 C. The films were then annealed at 1000 C in a tube furnace. X-ray and electron backscatter diffraction measurements showed all films have (111) texture but have grains with in-plane orientations differing by $60^{\circ}$. The in-plane epitaxial relationship for all films was $[110]_{metal}$||$[10\bar{1}0]_{{Al}_{2}{O}_{3}}$. Reactive sputtering of Al…
We have carried out a detailed programme to explore the superconducting characteristics of reactive DC-magnetron sputtered NbN. The basic principle is to ignite a plasma using argon, and then to introduce a small additional nitrogen flow to achieve the nitridation of a Nb target. Subsequent sputtering leads to the deposition of NbN onto the host substrate. The characteristics of a sputtered film depend on a number of parameters: argon pressure, nitrogen flow rate and time-evolution profile, substrate material, etc. Crucially, the hysteresis in the target voltage as a function of the nitrogen f…
Surface plasmonic effects of metallic particles have been known to be an effective method to improve the performance light emitting didoes. In this work, we reported the sputtered Au nanoparticles enhanced electroluminescence in inverted quantum dot light emitting diodes (ITO/Au NPs/ZnMgO/QDs/TFB/PEDOT:PSS/Al). By combining the time-resolved photoluminescence, transient electroluminescence and ultraviolet photoelectron spectrometer measurements, the enhancement can be explained to the internal field enhanced exciton coupling to surface plasmons and the increased electron injection rate with Au…
Bulk rhenium trioxide (ReO3) has an unusually high electrical conductivity and, being nanosized, has promising catalytic properties. However, the production of pure ReO3 thin films is challenging due to the difficulty to stabilize rhenium in a 6+ oxidation state. Here we present a novel approach for the deposition of ReOx (x = 1.6-2.9) thin films using reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (r-HiPIMS) from a metallic rhenium target in a mixed Ar/O2 atmosphere. The thin films were deposited in the gas-sustained self-sputtering regime, observed during r-HiPIMS process according to curr…
Biaxially textured MgO templates have been successfully fabricated on several amorphous polymer films including Kapton tapes, polyimide, Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and photoresist films using ion-beam-assisted-deposition (IBAD). With a Y2O3 buffer layer on polymer surfaces, roughening of the polymer surfaces due to preferential ion beam sputtering can be effectively reduced to meet the surface compatibility requirement for IBAD-MgO texturing. In-plane full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of ~10.7 degrees and out-of-plane FWHM ~ 3.5 degrees have been obtained on homoepitaxial MgO films grow…
The vacuum chamber of accelerator storage ring need clean ultra-high vacuum environment. TiZrV getter film which was deposited on interior wall of vacuum chamber, can realize distributed pumping, effectively improve the vacuum degree and reduce the longitudinal gradient. But accumulation of pollutants such as N2, O2, will decrease the adsorption ability of non-evaporable getter (NEG), which leads to the reduction of NEG lifetime. Therefore, NEG thin film coated with a layer of Pd which has high diffusion rate and absorption ability for H2, can extend the service life of NEG, and improve the pu…
The deposition of Al film onto the (111) surface of a p-Si crystal was shown to induce a deformation in the near-surface layer of the latter. Provided that the crystal strain is elastic and uniaxial, the gettering of defects in the near-surface layer is observed, which is confirmed by a change in the dependence of the specimen resistance on the elastic strain magnitude. The maximum depth of the defect capture has been calculated on the basis of the energy of interaction between the deformed layer and dislocations.
The effect of applying a positive voltage pulse (Urev = 10 - 150 V) directly after the negative high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) pulse (bipolar HiPIMS) is investigated for the reactive sputter deposition of TiN thin films. Energy-resolved mass spectroscopy analyses are performed to gain insight in the effect on the ion energy distribution function of the various ions. It is demonstrated that the energy of a large fraction of the ions can be tuned by a reverse target potential and gain energy corresponding to the applied Urev. Microscopy observations and x-ray reflectometry reve…
