Thin Metal Films Research Articles

Spin-fluctuation theory of temperature-driven spin reorientations in ferromagnetic transition metal thin films

Spin-fluctuation theory of temperature-driven spin reorientations in ferromagnetic transition metal thin films

Wafer-level metal thin film thickness scanning based on multiple probe wavelengths nanosecond transient thermoreflectance

Wafer-level metal thin film thickness scanning based on multiple probe wavelengths nanosecond transient thermoreflectance

Evaluating size effects on the thermal conductivity and electron-phonon scattering rates of copper thin films for experimental validation of Matthiessen’s rule

As metallic nanostructures shrink towards the size of the electronic mean free path, thermal conductivity decreases due to increased electronic scattering rates. Matthiessen’s rule is commonly applied to assess changes in electron scattering rates, although this rule has not been validated experimentally at typical operating temperatures for most of the electronic systems (e.g., near room temperature). In this study, we experimentally evaluate the validity of Matthiessen’s rule in determining the thermal conductivity of thin metal films by measuring the in-plane thermal conductivity and electronic scattering rates of copper (Cu) films with varying thicknesses (27 nm — 5 µm), microstructures, and grain boundary segregation. Comparing total electron scattering rates measured with infrared ellipsometry to infrared ultrafast pump-probe measurements, we find that the electron-phonon coupling factor is independent of film thickness, whereas the total electronic scattering rate increases with decreasing film thickness. Our findings provide experimental validation of Matthiessen’s rule for electron transport in thin metal films at room temperature and also introduce an approach to discern critical heat transfer processes in thin metal interconnects, which holds significance for the advancement of future CMOS technology.

Synthesis of ZnO NWs via Thermal Evaporation Technique

Zinc oxide nanowires ZnONWs were successfully synthesized on glass slides. The synthesis was conducted firstly by the deposition of 12 µm a thin film of Zn metal by thermal evaporation. Secondly,the coated film was annealed at a temperature of 600 ºC in air for four hours to grow the ZnO nanowires. It have been observed that the produced nanowires were grown in a vertical orientation and having a high density, very long, and a minimal aspect ratio. The crystal structure and morphology of ZnO nanowires were investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The UV-visible spectrophotometer was also used to calculate the optical parameters from the absorption spectrum and show a band gap energy around 3.25 eV. The crystal structure of the material was revealed to be polycrystalline with a preferred orientation in the direction of [101]. Small average crystallite size was calculated about 17nm The wires can be measured to have a length of around 10 µm with diameters ranging from 50 to 100 nm. This could be used for gas sensor applications. In addition, this ZnONWs structure has a maximum transmittance (100%) which can be a good candidate for many optoelectronic apllications.

Parametric Excitation and Instabilities of Spin Waves Driven by Surface Acoustic Waves

AbstractThe parametric excitation of spin waves by coherent surface acoustic waves in metallic magnetic thin film structures is demonstrated experimentally using Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. Complementary micromagnetic simulations and analytical modeling reveal that, depending on the experimental conditions, the spin‐wave instabilities originate from different phonon‐magnon and magnon‐magnon scattering processes. This opens novel ways to create micro‐scaled nonlinear magnonic systems for logic and data processing that profit from the efficient excitation of phonons using piezoelectricity.

Numerical modeling of SNSPD absorption utilizing optical conductivity with quantum corrections

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are widely used in various fields of physics and technology, due to their high efficiency and timing precision. Although, in principle, their detection mechanism offers broadband operation, their wavelength range has to be optimized by the optical cavity parameters for a specific task. We present a study of the optical absorption of a superconducting nanowire single photon detector with an optical cavity. The optical properties of the niobium nitride films, measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry, were modeled using the Drude–Lorentz model with quantum corrections. The numerical simulations of the optical response of the detectors show that the wavelength range of the detector is not solely determined by its geometry, but the optical conductivity of the disordered thin metallic films contributes considerably. This contribution can be conveniently expressed by the ratio of imaginary and real parts of the optical conductivity. This knowledge can be utilized in detector design.

Reductive Thermal ALD of Pd and Pd2Ge From a Novel Recyclable Palladium Chloride Adduct

AbstractIn this work, a new ALD process for palladium metal thin films using dichlorobis(triethylphosphine)palladium(II) (PdCl2(PEt3)2) and 1,4‐bis(trimethylsilyl)‐1,4‐dihydropyrazine ((Me3Si)2DHP) as reactants, is developed. The metal precursor is chosen based on the known reactivity of metal halides with the DHP‐type reducing agents. Metallic Pd films are deposited at temperatures of 140–180 °C with a growth rate of 0.3–0.4 Å cycle−1. Furthermore using 1,4‐bis(trimethylgermyl)‐1,4‐dihydropyrazine ((Me3Ge)2DHP) as the co‐reactant yielded Pd2Ge thin films. Finally, full recyclability of the PdCl2(PEt3)2 is observed: unused molecules condensed in the exhaust tube can be collected by dissolving them into acetone, purified by recrystallization, and reused.

Even–Odd Layer Oscillatory Behavior of Electronic and Phononic Specific Heat in an Ultra-Thin Metal Film

Both electronic and phononic statistical and thermal properties, modulated by the quantum size effect, are suggested in a thin metal film. In order to show the quantum size effect of specific heat, the densities of the electron and phonon states of an ultra-thin film are treated within the framework of quantum statistics. It was found that strong and weak “even–odd layer oscillatory behavior” was exhibited by the ultra-thin metal film in electronic and lattice specific heat, respectively. Such a behavior, which depends on film thickness, results from the quantum confinement of electrons and phonons in the vertical (thickness) direction of the film, where both electrons and phonons form their respective quantum well standing wave modes. If, for example, the thickness of the ultra-thin metal film is exactly an integer multiple of a half wavelength of the standing wave of electrons in the thickness direction, the corresponding density of states would become maximized, and the electronic specific heat would take its maximum. In the literature, less attention has been paid to the size-dependent electron Fermi wavelength for quantum size effects, i.e., the Fermi wavelength in ultra-thin metal films has always been identified as a constant. We shall show how the Fermi wavelength varies with the size of a nanofilm, including an explicit analytic formulation for the thickness dependence of the electron Fermi wavelength. Size-dependent resonantly oscillatory behavior, depending on the ultra-thin or nanoscale film thickness, would have possible significance for researching some fundamental physical characteristics (e.g., low-dimensional quantum statistics) and may find potential applications in new thermodynamic device design.

Proximity-induced ferromagnetism of platinum thin film on magnetic insulating CrI3 nanoflakes

The induced magnetization of Pt holds significant promise for the development of spintronic devices. In this study, we constructed a two-dimensional heterostructure consisting of a ferromagnetic insulating CrI3 nanoflake and metallic Pt thin films. The observation of anomalous Hall effect suggests the emergence of a ferromagnetic long-range order in the Pt thin film induced by the magnetic proximity effect. Density functional theory calculations were performed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. We propose that the spontaneous magnetization of Pt in Pt/CrI3 stems from an intensified exchange interaction between Pt 5d and Cr 3d electrons, which is facilitated by the interface coupling and the formation of interfacial hybrid orbitals. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of spin-based phenomena and have potential implications for advancements in the field of spintronics.

Bimetallic AgCo Nanoparticle Synthesis via Combinatorial Nanosecond Laser‐Induced Dewetting of Thin Films

Herein, a combinatorial approach is developed to conduct high‐throughput studies on the nanosecond pulsed laser‐induced dewetting phenomenon of bilayer Ag–Co metallic thin films. Laser irradiation results in the spontaneous rupture of these films in nanosecond timescale, forming bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) through intermediate stages of hole formation and bicontinuous nanostructures. This approach utilizes bilayer thin films with thickness gradients in both Ag and Co layers (referred to as bigradient samples) while maintaining a constant overall thickness. The laser irradiation on such bigradient bilayer films facilitates control on Ag and Co ratio in the thin films, thus enabling material libraries of Ag–Co NPs covering a large compositional variation. The evolution of NPs with a correlation between NP diameter and interparticle spacings is further studied. The study reveals monotonic increase in NP size and interparticle spacing in Co/Ag bilayer arrangement, while an increase and subsequent decrease in the NP size is observed at 50% Ag in Ag/Co bigradient films. A transition from intermediate stage hole formation to bicontinuous nanostructures with changing composition is also observed. These changes in intermediate stage morphologies and dewetting mechanism are attributed to variation of the free energy of the bilayer system dominated by intermolecular interaction forces.

Generation of conventional and reflective photonic nanojets and improving intensity enhancement with their superposition

Herein, we report the theoretical investigation on photonic nanojets (PNJs) of substrate-supported single-spherical dielectric microparticles. Conventional and reflective PNJs (CPNJs and RPNJs) are observed in the case of metal and dielectric substrates. The dependence of the maximum electric field intensity enhancement (ηmax) of the CPNJs and RPNJs on the nanogap between the metal substrate and dielectric microsphere, the metal substrate's refractive indices, and the incident light's wavelength is studied. More importantly, the spatial separation between the CPNJs and RPNJs is found to be strongly dependent upon the angle of incidence (θ). A significant improvement in the EFIE is observed for the grazing incidence upon the superposition of CPNJ and RPNJ. The theoretical investigation is also performed by replacing the metal substrate with a dielectric substrate, and the results obtained are reported here for comparison. Finally, this investigation is extended for the dielectric microsphere placed on a thin metal film deposited on a dielectric substrate and studied the role of θ on the characteristic parameters of the CPNJs and RPNJs.

Low temperature dependence of electrical resistivity in obliquely sputter-deposited transition metal thin films

Transition metals exhibiting hcp (Ti, Zr, Hf) and bcc (V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W) crystalline structures are DC sputter-deposited by oblique angle deposition. A constant film thickness of 400 nm is prepared, whereas the deposition angle α is systematically changed from 0 to 85° A columnar structure is produced with column angle reaching β = 50° for the highest deposition angle. Crystallinity and grain size are both reduced with an increasing deposition angle, especially for α higher than 60° DC electrical resistivity vs. temperature in the range 7–300 K shows a typical metallic-like behavior with films becoming more resistive for high deposition angles. For temperatures higher than 100 K, the linear temperature dependence of resistivity is obtained for films prepared with deposition angles lower than 60° The electron-phonon is the main interaction acting on electronic transport mechanism. Oblique deposition angles give rise to an enhancement of electron-phonon interactions with a saturation effect of electrical resistivity for some metals. Resistivity measurements at low temperatures (down to 7 K) show the predominance of electron-defect interactions. Electron-phonon-defect interaction effect is particularly investigated as a function of the deposition angle and a shift of the crossover temperature is brought to the fore.

Azimuthally Modulating Surface Plasmon Polaritons

Abstract We suggest a scheme for the lossless excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at a metal-dielectric interface using a Laguerre Gaussian (LG) beam. We consider a three-layer structure consisting of a top transparent medium, a middle metal thin film, and a dielectric bottom layer. The dielectric medium contains three-level atoms exhibiting electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). By applying a control field, a LG beam, and a microwave field, we induce azimuthally varying permittivity, which leads to the azimuthal modulation of SPPs. The propagation length of SPPs is increased when excited by a LG beam carrying optical angular momentum (OAM). Moreover, the group velocity of SPPs can be effectively controlled by adjusting the OAM and azimuthal angle of the LG beam, allowing for both slow and fast propagation of SPPs.

Decoupled High-Mobility Graphene on Cu(111)/Sapphire via Chemical Vapor Deposition.

The growth of high-quality graphene on flat and rigid templates, such as metal thin films on insulating wafers, is regarded as a key enabler for technologies based on 2D materials. In this work, the growth of decoupled graphene is introduced via non-reducing low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) on crystalline Cu(111) films deposited on sapphire. The resulting film is atomically flat, with no detectable cracks or ripples, and lies atop of a thin Cu2O layer, as confirmed by microscopy, diffraction, and spectroscopy analyses. Post-growth treatment of the partially decoupled graphene enables full and uniform oxidation of the interface, greatly simplifying subsequent transfer processes, particularly dry-pick up - a task that proves challenging when dealing with graphene directly synthesized on metallic Cu(111). Electrical transport measurements reveal high carrier mobility at room temperature, exceeding 104cm2V-1s-1 on SiO2/Si and 105cm2V-1s-1 upon encapsulation in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). The demonstrated growth approach yields exceptional material quality, in line with micro-mechanically exfoliated graphene flakes, and thus paves the way toward large-scale production of pristine graphene suitable for high-performance next-generation applications.

Mechanism of Anodic Dissolution of Tungsten in Sulfate–Fluoride Solutions

Thin passive films on tungsten play an important role during the surface levelling of the metal for various applications and during the initial stages of electrochemical synthesis of thick, nanoporous layers that perform well as photo-absorbers and photo-catalysts for light-assisted water splitting. In the present work, the passivation of tungsten featuring metal dissolution and thin oxide film formation is studied by a combination of in situ electrochemical (voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy) and spectro-electrochemical methods coupled with ex situ surface oxide characterization by XPS. Voltametric and impedance data are successfully reproduced by a kinetic model featuring oxide growth and dissolution coupled with the recombination of point defects, as well as a multistep tungsten dissolution reaction at the oxide/electrolyte interface. The model is in good agreement with the spectro-electrochemical data on soluble oxidation products and the surface chemical composition of the passive oxide.

De-wetted gold nanostructures for SERS-based sensing of static and dynamic targets

De-wetting of metal thin film is one of the simplest fabrication techniques to produce metallic nanostructures for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)-based sensing. In this manuscript, we explore the sensitivity of a de-wetted metal SERS substrate by testing it with the organic dye Rhodamine 6G (R6G) as well as with the single amino acids (Glycine, Serine, and Histidine) and a binary mixture of Glycine and Serine mixture. We observe that repeated de-wetting of the metal thin film provides a more than ten times higher SERS enhancement factor compared to a single de-wetting. This is attributed to the presence of more closely spaced metal nanoclusters, enabling a higher electromagnetic field enhancement at the hotspots. We characterized the sensing capability of our SERS substrates by detecting R6G dye drop-casted onto the substrates at sub-femtomolar concentrations. We were also able to detect R6G in a dynamic state while it was transported across a 500 nm diameter pore with a nanomolar detection limit. Finally, we were also able to detect amino acids with a micromolar detection limit using our SERS substrate. These results indicate the promise in the integration of our SERS substrate with solid-state nanopores for SERS-based signal readout where concentrations higher than nanomolar exist in the pore due to high confinement.

Study of effect of nanomaterial above the add layer on performance parameters of plasmonic structure

In this paper, we explored the effect of adding a nanomaterial layer above the add layer on performance parameter of the considered plasmonic structures (conventional, four and five layer SPR sensors). These structures are stimulated by the COMSOL Multiphysics. We have considered LiNbO3 as an add layer over a thin film of gold. Further, Graphene, Black Phosphorene, Mxene, MoS2 MoSe2, WS2 and WSe2 as nanomaterial are considered over add-layer. First, we optimised the thickness gold and LiNbO3. After that, we calculated reflectance and magnetic field dependent performance parameters, i.e., shift in resonance angle (∆θr), full beam width (FBW), sensitivity (S), detection accuracy (DA), quality factor (Q. F.), figure of merit (FoM), field intensity at different interfaces (metal-sensing medium (M-S), metal-dielectric (M-D), dielectric-sensing medium (D-S), dielectric-nanomaterial (D-N), nanomaterial-sensing medium (N-S), and penetration depth (PD) for the considered plasmonic structures. The minimum ∆θr is obtained for conventional structure i.e. 1.492° and maximum ∆θr is obtained for WS2 as nanomaterial used in five layer SPR sensor i.e., 2.052°. Moreover, FBW is also maximum for five layer SPR sensor with WS2 as nanomaterial i.e., 6.8430°. Moreover, PD has maximum value for conventional SPR sensor i.e., 190.894 nm, 175.94 nm for four layer SPR sensor and less than 175.94 nm for five layer SPR sensor. This comparative study will help to choose add-layer with nanomaterial over add layer and metal thin film layer in a SPR sensor for the detection of analyte or molecules present in the sensing medium.

A versatile electrochemical cell for in-situ GI-XRD measurements on lab-scale XRD devices

In-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) cells for electrochemical experiments suffer from strong attenuation of primary and diffracted beams within the electrolyte solution. To reduce the intensity loss of the X-rays, the use of a thin layer of electrolyte solution is an essential element of the conventional cell design. On the other hand, the thin layer electrolyte geometry is a considerable limitation for electrochemical measurements. To overcome these drawbacks a versatile electrochemical cell for in-situ GI-XRD measurements was constructed and used for the electrodeposition of Cu2O thin films on a copper substrate.In this design, a thin copper metal film working electrode is applied on a polyimide foil and then backside-illuminated in GI-XRD geometry. In this way, the XRD pattern is measured from the electrolyte/electrode interface of the working electrode. The X-rays only have to penetrate the polymer foil and the sputtered metal layer, resulting in high-intensity signals.In this work, we demonstrate the abilities of the in-situ cell with quantitative measurements of cathodic deposition of Cu2O thin layers. The results show a good agreement between the diffracted X-ray peak intensities and the calculated and measured thicknesses of the oxide layers. The cell design allows the structural characterization of electrode surfaces during electrochemical measurements without the disadvantages of thin layer cells and therefore does not require high intensity synchrotron radiation to perform X-ray diffraction during electrochemical investigations.

Terahertz oscillation driven by optical spin-orbit torque

Antiferromagnets are promising for nano-scale oscillator in a wide frequency range from gigahertz up to terahertz. Experimentally realizing antiferromagnetic moment oscillation via spin-orbit torque, however, remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the optical spin-orbit torque induced by circularly polarized laser can be used to drive free decaying oscillations with a frequency of 2 THz in metallic antiferromagnetic Mn2Au thin films. Due to the local inversion symmetry breaking of Mn2Au, ultrafast a.c. current is generated via spin-to-charge conversion, which can be detected through free-space terahertz emission. Both antiferromagnetic moments switching experiments and dynamics analyses unravel the antiferromagnetic moments, driven by optical spin-orbit torque, deviate from its equilibrium position, and oscillate back in 5 ps once optical spin-orbit torque is removed. Besides the fundamental significance, our finding opens a new route towards low-dissipation and controllable antiferromagnet-based spin-torque oscillators.

Printable, stretchable metal-vapor-desorption layers for high-fidelity patterning in soft, freeform electronics

High-fidelity patterning of thin metal films on arbitrary soft substrates promises integrated circuits and devices that can significantly augment the morphological functionalities of freeform electronics. However, existing patterning methods that decisively rely on prefabricated rigid masks are severely incompatible with myriad surfaces. Here, we report printable, stretchable metal-vapor-desorption layers (s-MVDLs) that can enable high-fidelity patterning of thin metal films on freeform polymeric surfaces. The printed rubbery matrix with highly mobile chains effectively repels various metal vapors from the surface and inhibits their condensation, thereby allowing selective metal deposition. The s-MVDLs are printed by direct ink writing techniques, enabling customizable and scalable thin metal patterns ranging from the micrometer to millimeter scale with high fidelity. Furthermore, the superior stretchability and mechanical robustness of the s-MVDLs allow highly compliant deformation along the substrates, enabling the construction of unconventional circuits and devices on multi-curvature, non-developable, and stretchable surfaces.