AVS 50th International Symposium
    Surface Science Wednesday Sessions
       Session SS-WeP

Paper SS-WeP25
Growth and Characterization of Ultra-thin Lattice Matched Multilayers of Cr@sub x@Mo@sub 1-x@ and MgO

Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 11:00 am, Room Hall A-C

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: J.T. Gudmundsson, University of Iceland
Authors: I. Meyvantsson, University of Iceland
S. Olafsson, University of Iceland
K. Johnsen, Biopharmaceuticals, Iceland
J.T. Gudmundsson, University of Iceland
Correspondent: Click to Email
We report on the preparation of a lattice matched hetheroepitaxial system in a magnetron sputtering discharge. Cr@sub x@Mo@sub 1-x@ thin films were grown on MgO(1 0 0) using DC power, and an MgO overlayer was grown on top by reactive sputtering using pulsed power. The composition of the binary metal alloy is chosen so that the interatomic distance along the <011> direction approximates the lattice constant of MgO. Thus the film should exhibit negligible strain. The structure of the films was studied by ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Low angle X-ray reflectivity measurements were performed to determine film thickness, and surface and interface roughness. The effect of substrate temperature during growth is discussed based on thermodynamics and kinetics of the growth process.The minimum thickness for continuity of the binary metal alloy film was determined using four point probe resistance measurements. The insulating properties of the MgO film as a function of thickness were assessed by measuring the tunnelling current I-V characteristics of a metal-insulator-metal structure.