I conducted an experiment of depositing zinc on a glass substrate using dc magnetron sputtering.
and I found through SEM that zinc was deposited as a porous structure under pressures of 100-300 mTorr, Ar 20 sccm, 100 W of power and no substrate heater operation . (Pressure control is difficult due to throttle valve malfunction)
When all conditions were the same except the substrate temperature 175℃, a fibrous structure was founded.
I attached SEM images of these samples.
When the copper thin film was previously deposited, it was dense. What is the difference between zinc and copper? Is it related to adatom mobility and film growth?
and Why is zinc fibrous when the substrate temperature is high?
Hello Soon Ho Rho ,
I am no expert in this field, but I remember reading in a book on vacuum deposition that depositing zinc on glass is difficult unless one pre-sensitizes the glass substrate with an invisible film of silver, copper, or tin. The book, where I found this information, is: L. Holland; Vacuum Deposition of Thin Films, Fourth Printing; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 1961; p. 257. If you consult the Index section, you will find other pages devoted to the vacuum deposition of zinc. I hope this helps.
Regards,
Tom Cuff
Hello Soon Ho Rho ,
You are very welcome. In case you have difficulty locating the book by Holland, a similar discussion about the problems with depositing zinc and cadmium films on glass can also be found in the following book: O. S. Heavens; Optical Properties of Thin Solid Films; Dover Publications, Inc.;1991 (originally published in 1955); pp. 38-42.
Heavens mentions that unless a portion (fraction) of a monolyer of silver, for example, is first deposited on the glass surface, prior to trying deposit zinc or cadmium, the resulting coating will appear gray as opposed to specular due to the island-like state of aggregation of the zinc or cadmium coating, see the triptych photograph on p. 42; a photograph illustrating a similar behavior can be found on Plate 6 at the rear of the book by Holland.
Regards,
Tom Cuff
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