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Abstract
Silver thin films were prepared by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering technique in Ar/N2 atmosphere with various N2 volumetric ratios on Si substrates. Silver thin films prepared in pure Ar atmosphere show highly (111) preferred orientation. However, as the N2 content increases, Ag (111) preferred orientation evolves into (100) preferred orientation gradually. When N2 content is more than 12.5 vol.%, silver thin films exhibit highly (100) preferred orientation. Moreover, the average grain size decreases with increasing N2 content. Silver thin films with low relative density are prepared at high N2 content, which results in higher resistivity of films. By analyzing the resistivity and microstructures of silver thin films, the optimum range of N2 content to get compact silver thin films is found to be not more than 33.3 vol.%. Finally, the mechanism of N2 addition on microstructure evolution of silver thin films was proposed.
Highlights
Noble metal silver (Ag) has excellent characteristics, such as low electrical resistivity, high thermal conduction, high reflectivity in visible and infrared regions, and great weldable and antimicrobial properties [1,2,3]
Based on the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS, no nitride and oxide exist in the thin film, and pure silver thin films were obtained in pure N2 atmosphere
When the N2 content ranges from 0 vol.% to 33.3 vol.%, the grain boundary scattering is the main reason to lead to a small difference in resistivity, and the effect of defect scattering on resistivity is similar, so the relative density of silver thin films is close
Summary
Noble metal silver (Ag) has excellent characteristics, such as low electrical resistivity, high thermal conduction, high reflectivity in visible and infrared regions, and great weldable and antimicrobial properties [1,2,3]. The influence of N2 content in Ar/N2 atmosphere on crystal orientation, grain size, and relative density of films is demonstrated in previous research studies.
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