In-situ monitoring of the growth of nanostructured aluminum thin film

Novotny, Michal; Bulir, Jiri; Lancok, Jan; Pokorny, Petr; Bodnar, Michal

doi:doi:10.1117/1.3543816

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Journal of Nanophotonics / Volume 5 / Special Section on Nanostructured Thin Films: Fabrication, Characterization, and Application

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In-situ monitoring of the growth of nanostructured aluminum thin film

J. Nanophoton. 5, 051503 (Feb 03, 2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3543816

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Abstract

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Michal Novotny, Jiri Bulir, Jan Lancok, Petr Pokorny, and Michal Bodnar

Institute of Physics of the ASCR, v.v.i., Na Slovance 2, 182 21, Prague, Czech Republic

Metal thin film functional properties depend strongly on its nanostructure, which can be manipulated by varying nucleation and growth conditions. Hence, in order to control the nanostructure of aluminum thin films fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering, we made use of in-situ monitoring of electrical and optical properties of the growing layer as well as plasma characterization by mass and optical emission spectroscopy. The electrical conductivity and I–V characteristics were measured. The optical constants were obtained from optical monitoring based on spectral ellipsometry. The relevant models (based on one or two Lorentz oscillators and B-spline functions) were suggested to evaluate the data obtained from the monitoring techniques. The results of the in-situ monitoring were correlated with scanning electron microscope analyses. We demonstrated the monitoring was able to distinguish the growth mode in real-time. We could estimate the percolation threshold of the growing layer and control layer nanostructure. The nanostructure was effectively manipulated by RF power variation. Optical functions exhibiting plasmonic behavior in the UV range and a strong nonlinear character of I–V curves were obtained for an ultrathin Al film deposited at a lower growth rate.

History

Received Oct 01, 2010
Accepted Nov 24, 2010
Revised Nov 23, 2010
Published online Feb 03, 2011
Corrected Mar 03, 2011

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3543816

Citation

Michal Novotny, Jiri Bulir, Jan Lancok, Petr Pokorny and Michal Bodnar, "In-situ monitoring of the growth of nanostructured aluminum thin film", J. Nanophoton. 5, 051503 (Feb 03, 2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3543816

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