Effect of incident-beam chopping on the structure of silver films condensed in a vacuum on glass

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Experimental X-ray study reveals that the texture formation in vacuum-condensed silver films on glass is considerably influenced by the chopping of the incident atomic flux. The <100 > crystal orientation, which is observed at high deposition rates and substrate temperatures within 10–200°C, is much improved by incident-beam chopping. Condensation of films of the same thickness for an equal time of actual deposition without chopping results in practically no <100 > orientation. An increase in the perfection of <111 > orientation is found at elevated substrate temperatures when condensation proceeds at both the equivalent deposition rate without chopping and high-intensity incident-beam chopping, the latter leading to a more pronounced effect. The incident-beam chopping also improves the crystal orientation at low deposition rates and substrate temperatures in the range 10–500°C when only <111 > orientation is registered. The chopping effect in this case is tantamount to a continuous condensation at the equivalent deposition rate.