A New Approach to the Formation of Nanosized Gold and Beryllium Films by Ion-Beam Sputtering Deposition.

Sergei A Sharko,Sergei V Trukhanov,Aljawhara H Almuqrin,Aleksandra I Serokurova,Valerii A Ketsko,M I Sayyed,Nikolai N Novitskii,Alex V Trukhanov,Maria N Smirnova

doi:10.3390/nano12030470

Abstract

Thin films of beryllium and gold that are several tens of nanometers thick were obtained, for the first time, on silicon and quartz substrates by the ion-beam method with tenfold alternation of deposition and partial sputtering of the nanosized metal layer. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy indicate the predominant lateral growth of nanosized metal layers along the substrate surface. Optical spectra indicate the suppression of the localized plasmon resonance. The growth of the film occurs under the influence of the high-energy component of the sputtered metal atoms’ flux. The main role in the formation of the nanosized metal film is played by the processes of the elastic collision of incident metal atoms with the atoms of a substrate and a growing metal film. Metal films that are obtained by the tenfold application of the deposition–sputtering of a nanoscale metal layer are characterized by stronger adhesion to the substrate and have better morphological, electrical, and optical characteristics than those that are obtained by means of direct single deposition.

Highlights

The obtaining of metals in a nanoscale state [1,2,3] and the study of their properties is of decisive importance for modern science and technology and, is one of the priority directions in the development of materials science.Continuous films of metals with a thickness from units to tens of nanometers on substrates of various natures, including those that are dielectric, are of considerable scientific and practical interest
Before the deposition of the metal layer, the silicon and quartz substrates were cleaned from foreign surface impurities for 120 s by an oxygen ion beam of an energy level of less than 0.3 keV and an ion beam current density of 0.1–0.15 mA/cm2
The thicknesses of the metal films were determined from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data

Summary

Introduction

The obtaining of metals in a nanoscale state [1,2,3] and the study of their properties is of decisive importance for modern science and technology and, is one of the priority directions in the development of materials science.Continuous films of metals with a thickness from units to tens of nanometers on substrates of various natures, including those that are dielectric, are of considerable scientific and practical interest. Nanosized gold films [4,5,6] are capable of transmitting more than half of the incident light flux with an absorption rate of 10–20% [7,8] This fact allows them to be used as transparent ohmic contacts, transparent protective layers, electrodes in multilayer metal structures [9,10], etc. Another wide application area of these materials is associated with the possibility of their excitation in structures, on their ground elementary oscillations, Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 470.

Methods

Results

Conclusion