Morphological evolution of thin gold films studied by Auger electron spectroscopy in beading conditions

The evolution of thin gold films deposited on a sapphire surface was studied in UHV using Auger electron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The annealing temperatures were in the range 573--843 K. Starting from a continuous film, we observed at the end of the process a collection o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2004-04, Vol.78 (7), p.1079-1084
Main Authors: BESZEDA, I, SZABO, I. A, GONTIER-MOYA, E. G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agglomeration
Auger electron spectroscopy
Beading
Beads
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Deposition
Evolution
Exact sciences and technology
Gold
Physics
Structure and morphology
thickness
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
Thin film structure and morphology
Thin films
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The evolution of thin gold films deposited on a sapphire surface was studied in UHV using Auger electron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The annealing temperatures were in the range 573--843 K. Starting from a continuous film, we observed at the end of the process a collection of beads. The incubation time in this temperature range was negligible, while the agglomeration time varied from about 2 h at 573 K to a few minutes at 843 K. The kinetics of metal agglomeration allowed the evaluation of the surface self diffusion coefficients of gold which can be expressed by
ISSN:0947-8396
1432-0630
DOI:10.1007/s00339-003-2170-0