Detailed investigation of the influence of the process parameters on the nano-morphology of Ag deposited on SiC by radio-frequency sputtering
Data di pubblicazione: 15 Ago 2011
In this work, a detailed study of the influence of the synthesis parameters (deposition time t and emission current I) on the morphological properties of Ag nanoparticles sputter-deposited on silicon carbide is carried out. Using the atomic force microscopy technique, we analyzed the evolution of several structural characteristics as a function both of t and I: the length and width of the Ag nanoparticles, the number of nanoparticles per unit area, the nanoparticles’ fraction of the covered area, and the roughness of the resulting Ag film. Using consolidated theoretical frameworks and fitting approaches, the relations between such quantities and the process parameters t and I were established. In particular, the application of the interrupted coalescence model allowed us to evaluate the critical mean island diameter for the partial coalescence process; the dynamic scaling theories of growing interfaces lead, instead, to the …