IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Thin Films Monday Sessions
       Session TF+NS+SE+VST-MoA

Invited Paper TF+NS+SE+VST-MoA6
Gold Nanoparticle Films via Inert Gas Deposition: Biased Percolation and Current Induced Organization During and after Deposition

Monday, October 29, 2001, 3:40 pm, Room 123

Session: Nanophase & Multilayered Thin Films
Presenter: L.B. Kish, Uppsala University, Sweden
Authors: L.B. Kish, Uppsala University, Sweden
P. Chaoguang, Uppsala University, Sweden
J. Ederth, Uppsala University, Sweden
W.H. Marlow, Texas A&M University
C.G. Granqvist, Uppsala University, Sweden
Correspondent: Click to Email
Gold nanoparticle films made by inert gas deposition have been attracting attention due to their super hardness and thermal stability, which make the films promising objects for future microelectronics applications. The exact origin of the superior proper ties is unknown and to learn the conditions for optimal properties, strong efforts have been made. The published investigations have been made after the films were deposited. This talk reports a different way of study: measuring the electrical conductivit y during deposition. During the measurement, various electrical fields have been applied in order to test the possible influence of the measuring current on the film formation. The time dependence of the conductivity showed various rich patterns including local maximums/minimums. The exact interpretation of the whole process is yet to be make, however, it is possible to make a phenomenological picture of the origin of the observed current-induced-organization phenomena, which include elements of: - Biased percolation: conductor-insulator transition; - Biased percolation: bad conductor - good conductor transition; - Annealing; - Sintering; - Electromigration. A possible technological application of the observed phenomena is the fabrication of nanoparticle films with controlled disorder, such as, fine tuning of chemical sensors.