Influence of secondary ion bombardment on the composition, structure and surface properties of platinum thin films

Abstract

Platinum (Pt) thin films were deposited by dual ion beam sputtering (DIBS) techniques on oxidized silicon substrates maintained at ambient temperature. Argon ions with energy of 1 keV and beam current of 15 mA were used to sputter the platinum target. The films during deposition were continuously bombarded by argon from a secondary argon ion source with ion energy of 150 eV and ion current density in the range 100–250 μA/cm 2. The influence of the secondary ion beam parameters on the grain size, composition and surface morphology of the films were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) of all the films showed (1 1 1) orientation with other reflections being absent which is a stable structure for FCC crystals. The grain size of the Pt films prepared by DIBS at ambient temperature were found to be higher than those prepared at higher substrate temperature by low energy plasma sputtering. The presence of Ar impurities in the sputter deposited thin films is known to modify their properties. In this paper we report a method to control the Ar content in the films by secondary Ar ion bombardment of the growing films. The modification of the surface features by secondary ion beam current was studied by scanning tunneling microscope and is also presented in this paper. The surface analysis indicates a decrease in the surface roughness for the Pt films prepared at a secondary ion beam current density of 150 μA/cm 2.