Epitaxial Copper Films Evaporated in Ultra-High Vacuum

Abstract

Recent electron microscopy and diffraction studies of vacuum-deposited films have demonstrated the importance of temperature and surface condition of substrate in determining film structure and growth. Many interesting results of thin epitaxial films of face-centered cubic metals such as gold and silver have been reported. But, relatively few studies of copper have been made. The purpose of this study is to investigate structure and epitaxy of copper thin films evaporated onto various single-crystal substrates in an ultra-high vacuum.High purity copper was evaporated onto freshly cleaved (0001)MoS2, (100)NaC1, (001)mica and (11)CaF2 surfaces heated at temperatures between ∼25° and 200°C in a vacuum of ∼10-8 Torr. Average thickness of deposited films was about 90 Å. Deposition rate was about 0.4 Å/sec. The films were studied by reflection electron diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Oxidation of copper films during preparation for electron microscopy and diffraction observation was minimized by deposition of thin layer of amorphous carbon upon freshly formed copper films.