Elaboration and characterization of porous ultrathin gold films grown by ion beam assisted deposition

Abstract

The growth of ultrathin gold layers on a silicon substrate is performed with an unconventional ion beam assisted deposition. In this setup, evaporated gold flow and ion beam flux are perpendicular. 5 and 10 nm thick gold were deposited on tilted samples with the assistance of an argon ion beam at energies of 70 and 150 eV. We explored the evolution of surface morphology, mainly roughness and porosity, with ion bombardment for two gold thicknesses. We have also extrapolated Young’s modulus of these ultrathin layers by means of high-frequency acoustic measurements in the 90–260 MHz range. We also investigated the evolution of wettability of our structures with ion bombardment as well as their electrical and optical responses.