Study of the Structural Properties and Morphologies of Gold Thin Films Deposition by Annealing

Feridoun Samavat ,Zahra Fereidouni ,Faezeh Ghaderi

doi:10.32861/jbr.411.83.88

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of annealing temperature on properties of gold thin films has been investigated. Au thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by the electron beam coating technique and afterward subjected to annealing in a mixed ambient of air and oxygen at 575, 650, 725, 800 and 875 K for 1 h and then cold slowly. The crystallographic structure of Au thin films was studied as a function of the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction was used to estimate the crystallographic texture, grain size. All the films were found to have crystalline structure. The films morphologies were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface topographies were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). (AFM) analysis showed the gold layer growth to be running over isolated islands. The XRD and SEM and AFM results confirmed the presence of gold particle in thin films.

Highlights

Thin films have two important features: (i) thickness of under micron and closer to nanometer; (ii) extremely large surface to thickness of layer
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results confirmed the presence of gold particle in thin films
These films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Summary

Introduction

Thin films have two important features: (i) thickness of under micron and closer to nanometer; (ii) extremely large surface to thickness of layer. These properties because that ratio surface to bulk is large and are created certain features. Gold in the form of thin films is nowadays used in a vast range of applications such as microelectro mechanical and nanoelectromechanical systems [11, 12], sensors [13], electronic textiles [14], bioengineering [15], generator of nonlinear optical properties [16], or devices for surface-enhanced Raman scattering [17]. Au alloy thin film was created on glass substrate, and various heat treatments was conducted. These films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Experimental

X-Ray Analysis

SEM Observation

AFM Observation

Conclusions