Effect of ion bombardment during deposition on the x-ray microstructure of thin silver films

Abstract

The effect of argon ion bombardment, during deposition on the microstructure of several tens of nanometers thick Ag films, has been studied. The structure of the Ag films was analyzed by x-ray powder diffraction method. Results show that Ar ion bombardment not only influenced the film growth process but had a significant effect on the structure of the resulting films. In comparison to an evaporated thin Ag film, our films showed much less [111] preferred orientation and a lattice expansion normal to the film surface instead of contraction, with compressive rather than tensile surface strain and plane stress. We also observed much smaller grain sizes, and higher twin fault probabilities, microstrains and dislocation densities. These structural parameters varied systematically with the normalized energy En, that is, the energy deposited by incident energetic Ar+ at the film surface per arriving Ag atom; at first rapidly, then leveling off when En≥42% eV/Ag atom. Preferential orientation is believed to be dependent on film thickness as well as on En. Unlike other parameters, twin fault probability increased to a maximum at En=20 eV/Ag atom and then decreased as En increased further due to self-annealing during deposition.