ERD analysis and modification of TiO2 thin films with heavy ions

作者：Jensen J^*; Martin D; Surpi A; Kubart T

来源：Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms , 2010, 268(11-12): 1893-1898.

DOI：10.1016/j.nimb.2010.02.051

• Titanium dioxide
• Thin films
• Ion beam analysis
• Elastic recoil detection
• Ion beam modification

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) films have been deposited on Si substrates using reactive magnetron sputtering. The resulting films, having a polycrystalline anatase phase with a dense columnar structure, were analysed by time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF-ERDA) using 40 MeV I9+ ions. A clear decrease in the areal atomic density (atoms/cm(2)) of Ti and O was observed during measurement, but the stoichiometry remained essentially constant up to a fluence of 4 x 10(13) ions/cm(2).
To investigate this effect in more detail, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) were applied in order to characterize the films prior to and after ion irradiation with fluences in the range of 10(10)-10(13) ions/cm(2). Distinct morphological and structural changes of the polycrystalline film were observed. XRD revealed that the crystallinity of the film was gradually destroyed, and the film became amorphous at a fluence above 5 x 10(12) ions/cm(2). SEM and AFM measurements revealed topographical changes in the form of surface recession and smoothing compared to the pristine polycrystalline surface. The observed change in areal atomic density during ERD measurement is believed to be due to the combined effects of electronic sputtering, amorphization and ion hammering.

• 出版日期2010-6