Abstract
Abstract The morphology of Nb films with thickness ranging between 10 and 1000 nm deposited by rf sputtering and the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) techniaue was investigated by scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The roughness of the films increases with increasing thickness following a power law with an exponent of 0.26 and 0.6 for conventional sputtering and the ECR techniaue respectively. Film surface features evaluated by the autocorrelation function of the SPM images show a similar dependence on the thickness with an exponent of 0.25 independent of the deposition system. Evolution of Nb film morphology deposited by rf sputtering is compatible with a surface diffusion-driven growth process where desorption is negligible, while films deposited by the ECR techniaue show a more complex behaviour. SUMMARY The surface morphology of Nb thin films grown with different deposition systems was analysed by AFM and STM. The roughness and the surface hills of films deposited by ECR are three to four times lower ...
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