Abstract
Abstract. Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process using a substrate that rotates tilted at an angle to the evaporation source. Depending on the deposition conditions, it provides the controlled formation of regular nanostructures during the PVD process. As a result, a wide variety of shapes, such as spirals or vertical columns, can be easily fabricated in the nanometer range. For this reason, GLAD has already been proven reliable in the production of optical coatings with very low reflectance in a broad spectral range. This paper examines the morphology of tantalum nanostructures deposited on planar silicon substrates by electron beam evaporation. The prepared samples are characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) images at a breaking edge with respect to the layer structure and by focused ion beam (FIB) SEM images of the cross-sectional areas with respect to the porosity. The porosity can be used to model the optical properties of the thin film with the effective medium theory (EMT). Our work studies the relationship between the evaporation parameters (growth pitch and deposition angle) and thin film morphology of tantalum so that in future work the optical properties can be linked to the deposition parameters, which in turn can be chosen to achieve highly absorbent infrared radiation layers, e.g., for infrared sensors. It was shown that the porosity across the film thickness of both columnar and screw-like thin films is nearly constant, whereas the porosity profiles of spiral structures show a periodic pattern, the period of which seems to depend on the growth pitch.
Highlights
Thermal infrared (IR) sensors are used for many purposes in noncontact temperature measurement, motion control, gas analysis, fire detection, thermal imaging and many other fields like process control, safety and security as well as the health industry (Budzier and Gerlach, 2011)
Our work studies the relationship between the evaporation parameters and thin film morphology of tantalum so that in future work the optical properties can be linked to the deposition parameters, which in turn can be chosen to achieve highly absorbent infrared radiation layers, e.g., for infrared sensors
Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is a special deposition process for thin films, which belongs to the physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes
Summary
Thermal infrared (IR) sensors are used for many purposes in noncontact temperature measurement, motion control, gas analysis, fire detection, thermal imaging and many other fields like process control, safety and security as well as the health industry (Budzier and Gerlach, 2011). The study focuses on the shape of the deposited tantalum structures, which depends on the ratio of the deposition rate and substrate rotation speed; this is known as growth pitch The use of GLAD is not limited to optical applications, like absorption layers for infrared detectors (Schossig et al, 2010) or solar cells (Gonzalez-Garcia et al, 2011) It has been applied in photonic crystals (Kennedy et al, 2002, 2003), gas sensors (Hwang et al, 2013; Beckers et al, 2013), field emitters (Singh et al, 2004), nanomechanical actuators (Dice et al, 2007) and magnetic devices (Albrecht et al, 2010; Alouach et al, 2005), to name a few
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
