Effects of deposition time on growth of Ir buffer layer on MgO(1 0 0) support layer by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

The effects of deposition time of Ir buffer layer on MgO(100) support layer were investigated during the fabrication of the Ir/MgO compliant substrates with the use of the magnetron sputtering technique. It was observed that the XRD FWHM of Ir(200) decreases rapidly at first and then slowly with increasing deposition time, and the XRD FWHM data versus the deposition time can be fitted into the Logistic curve. For the surface roughness Ra of the Ir buffer layer, it increases firstly and then declines with increasing deposition time; the experimental data of Ra versus the deposition time can be fitted to the Lorentz curve. And the fitting functions corresponding to the two curves can be used for the determination of the deposition time of desired Ir buffer layer quality easily and conveniently, which provides a solid foundation for subsequent heteroepitaxy of high-quality diamond films on the Ir/MgO compliant substrate.