Nano Express
Atomic Force Microscopy Study of the Kinetic Roughening in Nanostructured Gold Films on SiO2
1 Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, MATIS CNR-INFM, Università di Catania, via S. Sofia 64, I-95123, Catania, Italy
2 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche–Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi, VIII Strada 5, I-95121, Catania, Italy
Nanoscale Research Letters 2009, 4:262-268 doi:10.1007/s11671-008-9235-0
Published: 6 January 2009Abstract
Dynamic scaling behavior has been observed during the room-temperature growth of sputtered Au films on SiO2using the atomic force microscopy technique. By the analyses of the dependence of the roughness, σ, of the surface roughness power,P(f), and of the correlation length,ξ, on the film thickness,h, the roughness exponent,α = 0.9 ± 0.1, the growth exponent,β = 0.3 ± 0.1, and the dynamic scaling exponent,z = 3.0 ± 0.1 were independently obtained. These values suggest that the sputtering deposition of Au on SiO2at room temperature belongs to a conservative growth process in which the Au grain boundary diffusion plays a dominant role.
