Sputtered surface films

FTM and atom-probe studies of thin films of Ni, Au, Pt, a-Ge H, a-Si H and WO3, etc., on various substrates were reported by Krishna-swamy et a/.81 First, field ion tips each with a field evaporated surface were prepared. They are placed in an MRC model 8502 r.f. sputtering system. Tips were mounted on a recessed and shielded structure behind the sputtering surface which is bored with small holes about 1 to 2 mm in diameter. The very end of the tips came out of the holes to approximately the same level of the sputtering surface. Films were sputtered at about 20 mTorr Ar at an r.f. power of about 50 W. Thickness of a deposited thin film was controlled by both the r.f. power and the deposition time. Film thickness in the range of a few hundred to a few thousand A were studied. These tips were then imaged with Ne in the field ion microscope, or analyzed in the flight-time-focused ToF atom-probe. 

Other interesting thin-film studies using AES have included the growth of platinum on Ti02- and SrO-terminated (100) SrTiOs single-crystal substrates [2.154], of epitaxial niobium films on (110) T1O2 [2.155], the interaction of copper with a (0001) rhenium surface [2.156], and the characterization of radio-frequency (rf) sputtered TiN films on stainless steel [2.157]. 

For this reason, the dissolution of hydrous oxides does not require a high energy of activation. If hydrous oxides are dehydrated, they become dry oxides, which therefore acquire higher resistance to anodic dissolution. The most straightforward way to obtain dry oxides is to subject hydrous oxides to thermal treatments or better to prepare them as thin surface films by a non-electrochemical technique (thermal decomposition, chemical vapor deposition, reactive sputtering, etc.). 

Figure 1. A Rutherford backscattering spectrum for a thin (40/ig/cm2) MoSt sputter-deposited film. Conditions 4He ions normally incident at 3.0 MeV, and scattered ions detected at a 135° angle by a surface-barrier diode detector. Note the scale factor for other than the Mo peak and the Si substrate. The sample layer configuration is indicated at the upper left.

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