Preparation and characterization of nanostructured silver thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Nanostructured silver thin films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room and liquid nitrogen substrate temperatures. Atomic forc e microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to study the topography and chemical composition, respectively, of the thi n films. The AFM results indicate a significant difference in the morpholog y of the thin films when argon or nitrogen ions were used as sputtering ion s. For argon ion sputtering, a difference also exists in the microstructure and topography of the thin films for ambient and liquid nitrogen substrate temperatures. The XPS results show a high purity of nanostructured silver thin films for sputtering by both argon ions and nitrogen ions, but with so me oxygen and carbon contamination. For argon ion sputtering, the content o f oxygen and carbon is less than 6.9% and 4.5%, and for nitrogen ion sputte ring, less than 4.7% and 3.6%. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights re served.