Influence of Deposition Temperature and Pressure on Microstructure and Tribological Properties of Arc Ion Plated Ag Films

The films deposited at low temperature（LT-films） have increasingly attracted theoretical and technical interests since such films exhibit obvious difference in structure and performances compared to those deposited at room temperature.Studies on the tribological properties of LT-films are rarely reported in available literatures.In this paper,the structure,morphology and tribological properties of Ag films,deposited at LT（166 K） under various Ar pressures on AISI 440C steel substrates by arc ion plating（AIP）,are studied by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,atomic force microscopy（AFM） and a vacuum ball-on-disk tribometer,and compared with the Ag films deposited at RT（300 K）.XRD results show that（200） preferred orientation of the films is promoted at LT and low Ar pressure.The Crystallite sizes are 70 nm-80 nm for LT-Ag films deposited at 0.2 Pa and 0.8 Pa and larger than 100 nm for LT-Ag films deposited at 0.4 Pa and 0.6 Pa,while they are 55 nm-60 nm for RT-Ag films deposited at 0.2 Pa-0.6 Pa and 37 nm for RT-Ag films deposited at 0.8 Pa.The surfaces of LT-Ag films are fibre-like at 0.6 Pa and 0.8 Pa,terrace-like at 0.4 Pa,and sphere-like at 0.2 Pa,while the surfaces of RT-Ag films are composed of sphere-like grains separated by voids.Wear tests reveal that,due to the compact microstructure LT-Ag films have better wear resistances than RT-Ag film.These results indicate that the microstructure and wear resistance of Ag films deposited by AIP can be improved by low temperature deposition.

NUMERICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CURRENT-INDUCED CHANGES IN SURFACE MORPHOLOGY OF THIN Ag FILMS

The changes in surface topography of thin conducting Ag films under high-density current condition are studied by optical and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). It is established that the loss of conductivity in specimens occurs through depletion of the material due to their overheating and electromigration process. It has been shown that the r.m.s. roughness, the fractal dimension of voids and the fractal dimension of the surface allow complete numerical characterization of surface topography changes in thin Ag films.

Growth and structural properties of silicon on Ag films prepared by 40.68 MHz very-high-frequency magnetron sputtering

The growth of silicon on Ag films via 40.68 MHz very-high-frequency （VHF） magnetron sputtering was investigated. The energy distribution and flux density of the ions on the substrate were also measured. The results showed that 40.68 MHz magnetron sputtering can produce ions with higher energy and lower flux density. The impact of these ions onto the grown surface promotes the growth of silicon, which is related to the crystalline nature and microstructure of the underlayer of the Ag films, and there is large particle growth of silicon on Ag films with a preferred orientation of （111）, and two-dimensional growth of silicon on Ag films with a better face-centered cubic structure.

Laser Direct Writing of Ag Films from Solution on Si Substrate

Pulsed Nd:YAG laser was used to irradiate Si substrate immersed in AgNO3 ethylene glycol solution to deposit Ag films along the lines scanned by laser on the substrate, which is a photo-thermal decomposing process. The decomposed Ag atoms congregate and form polycrystalline Ag particles. The Ag concentration changes greatly with the total laser energyA absorbed by substrate. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation shows the Ag particles are inlaid in the Si substrate. Auger electron spectrum (AES) shows that the Ag concentration decreases with the increase of the sputtering depth, and there is no oxygen element on the surface of the deposited Ag films.

Initial growth and microstructure feature of Ag films prepared by very-high-frequency magnetron sputtering

The initial growth and microstructure feature of Ag films formation were investigated, which were prepared by using the very-high-frequency（VHF）（60 MHz） magnetron sputtering. Because of the moderate energy and very low flux density of ions impinging on the substrate, the evolutions of initial growth for Ag films formation were well controlled by varying the sputtering power. It was found that the initial growth of Ag films followed the island（Volmer—Weber, VW） growth mode, but before the island nucleation, the adsorption of Ag nanoparticles and the formation of Ag clusters dominated the growth. Therefore, the whole initial stages of Ag films formation included the adsorption of nanoparticles, the formation of clusters, the nucleation by the nanoparticles and clusters simultaneously, the islands formation, and the coalescence of islands.

Magnetic properties and structure of (001)-oriented [CoPt/C]_n /Ag nanocomposite films on the glass substrates

The highly （1301） oriented triple system of [CoPt/C]n/Ag films was deposited on glass substrates by DC and RF magnetron sputtering. After annealing at 600℃ for 30 min, thin films become magnetically hard with coercivities in the range of 160-875 kA/m because of high anisotropy associated with the L10 ordered phase. C doping plays an important role in improving （001） texture and reducing the intergrain interactions. The oriented growth of CoPt films was influenced strongly by the number of repetitions （n） of CoPt/C. By controlling the C content and the number of repetitions （n） of CoPt/C, nearly perfect （001） orientation can be obtained in the [CoPt3nm/C3nm]5/Ag50 nm.

(001)-oriented FePt/Ag composite films for perpendicular recording

FePt/Ag thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering onto 7059 glass substrates, then were annealed at 550 ℃ for 30 min. Nanostructured FePt/Ag films were successfully obtained with the magnetic easy axis of L10 FePt perpendicular to the film plane. It was found that the development of （001） texture depended strongly on the thicknesses of FePt magnetic layer and Ag underlayer. The L10 ordered FePt（15 nm）/Ag（50 nm） with （001） orientation can be obtained. And the perpendicular coercivity of FePt（15 nm）/Ag（50 nm） film reached to 7.2× 10^5 A/m, whereas the longitudinal one was only 3.2×10^4 A/m. The non-magnetic Ag underlayer can not only induce （001） orientation and ordering of FePt grains, but also reduce the intergrain interactions.

Preparation and Properties of Ag-TiO_2 Thin Films on Glass Substrates

Ag TiO 2 thin films were prepared on glasses.The morphology and structure of Ag TiO 2 films were investigated by XRD, SEM and FT IR.The photocatalytic and hydrophilic properties of Ag TiO 2 thin films were also evaluated by examining photocatalytic degradation dichlorophos under sunlight illumination and the change of contact angle respectively.The research results show that the Ag TiO 2 thin film is mainly composed of 20-100nm Ag and TiO 2 particles.The Ag TiO 2 thin films possess a super hydrophilic ability and higher photocatalytic activity than that of pure TiO 2 thin film.

Effect of driving frequency on the structure of silicon grown on Ag(111) films by very-high-frequency magnetron sputtering

The effect of driving frequency on the structure of silicon grown on Ag（111） film is investigated, which was prepared by using the very-high-frequency（VHF）（40.68 MHz and 60 MHz） magnetron sputtering. The energy and flux density of the ions impinging on the substrate are also analyzed. It is found that for the 60-MHz VHF magnetron sputtering, the surface of silicon on Ag（111） film exhibits a small cone structure, similar to that of Ag（111） film substrate, indicating a better microstructure continuity. However, for the 40.68-MHz VHF magnetron sputtering, the surface of silicon on Ag（111） film shows a hybrid structure of hollowed-cones and hollowed-particles, which is completely different from that of Ag（111）film. The change of silicon structure is closely related to the differences in the ion energy and flux density controlled by the driving frequency of sputtering.

Effects of the sputtering power on the crystalline structure and optical properties of the silver oxide films deposited using direct-current reactive magnetron sputtering

This paper reports that a series of silver oxide （AgzO） films are deposited on glass substrates by direct-current reactive magnetron sputtering at a substrate temperature of 250 ℃ and an oxygen flux ratio of 15：18 by modifying the sputtering power （SP）. The AgxO films deposited apparently show a structural evolution from cubic biphased （AgO ＋ Ag20） to cubic single-phased （Ag20）, and to biphased （Ag20 ＋ AgO） structure. Notably, the cubic single-phased Ag20 fihn is deposited at the SP = 105 W and an AgO phase with （220） orientation discerned in the Ag^O films deposited using the SP 〉 105 W. The transmissivity and refiectivity of the AgxO films in transparent region decrease with the increase the SP, whereas the absorptivity inversely increases with the increase of the SP. These results may be due to the structural evolution and the increasing film thickness. A redshift of the films＇ absorption edges determined in terms of Tauc formula clearly occurs from 3.1 eV to 2.73 eV with the increase of the SP.

Light scattering effect of submicro-textured Ag/Al composite films prepared at lower substrate temperatures

We present a new and practical approach for preparing submicro-textured silver and aluminum （Ag/Al） double-structured layers at low substrate temperatures. The surface texturing of silver and aluminum double-structured layers was performed by increasing the deposition temperature of the Al layers to 270℃. The highly submicro-textured silver and aluminum double-structured layers were prepared by thermal evaporation on quartz glasses and their surface microstructure, light scattering properties, and thermal stability were investigated. Results showed that the highly submicro-textured Ag/Al composite films prepared at low substrate temperatures used as back reflectors not only can enhance the light scattering and have good thermal stability, but also have good adhesion properties. In addition, their fabrication is low cost and readily carried out.

Effect of Ag Addition on the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of FePt Thin Films

FePt thin films and [FePt/Ag]n multilayer thin films were prepared by magnetron sputtering technique and subsequent annealing process. By comparing the microstructure and magnetic properties of these two kinds of thin films, effects of Ag addition on the structure and properties of FePt thin films were investigated. Proper Ag addition was found helpful for FePt phase transition at lower annealing temperature. With Ag addition, the magnetic domain pattern of FePt thin film changed from maze-like pattern to more discrete island-like domain pattern in [FePt/Ag]n multilayer thin films. In addition, introducing nonmagnetic Ag hindered FePt grains from growing larger. The in-depth defects in FePt films and [FePt/Ag]n multilayer films verify that Ag addition is attributed to a large number of pinning site defects in [FePt/Ag]n film and therefore has effects on its magnetic properties and microstructure.

Effect of Accelerated Ageing on the Dielectric Behaviour of Some Varnish Dry Films

The variation of the dielectric constant e' and the dielectric loss e' of polyesteramide, alkyd polyesteramide and alkyd varnish dry films were measured within the frequency range from 105 to 107 Hz and the temperature range from 20 to 50℃. The varnish films were subjected to accelerated ageing by heating at 110℃ for diferent durations. The efect of the accelerated ageing on e' and e' were measured. The activation energy and the entropy change of dielectric relaxation for the dry films before and after ageing were also calculated. All the results obtained were recorded and discussed in correlation with the molecular structure of the investigated varnishes.

Enhanced photoluminescence of CdSe quantum dots by the coupling of Ag nanocube and Ag film

The coupling of local surface plasmon （LSP） of nanoparticle and surface plasmon （SP） mode produced by metal film can lead to the enhanced electromagnetic field, which has an important application in enhancing the fluorescence of quantum dots （QDs）. Herein, the Ag nanocube and Ag film are used to enhance the fluorescence of CdSe QDs. The enhancement is found to relate to the sizes of the Ag nanocube and the thickness of the Ag film. Moreover, we also present the fluorescence enhancement caused by only SP. The result shows that the coupling between metal nanoparticles and metal film can realize larger field enhancement. Numerical simulation verifies that a nanocube can localize a strong electric field around its comer. All the results indicate that the fluorescence of QDs can be efficiently improved by optimizing the parameters of Ag film and Ag cubes.

Spectroscopic ellipsometric study of the optical properties of Ag_2O film prepared by direct-current magnetron reactive sputtering

The Ag2O film, as-dcposited by direct-current magnetron reactive sputtering at a substrate temperature of 150 ℃, clearly shows a preferential orientation （111）, and is capable of lowering the threshold value of the thermal decomposition temperature to about 200℃, which is helpful to its application in optical and magneto-optical storage. This paper fits its optical constants in terms of a general oscillator model by using measured ellipsometric parameters. The fitted oscillator energy 2.487 eV is close to the optical direct interband transition energy value of the Ag2O film determined by Tauc equation; whereas, the fitted oscillator energy 4.249 eV is far from the fitted plasma oscillator energy 4.756 eV by single-oscillator energy. The photoluminescence spectrum centred at about 2.31 eV indicates a direct-energy gap photoluminescence mechanism of the Ag2O film.

Electroneutral Quaternization/Sulfosuccination for Alleviating the Adverse Effect of Paste Aging on the Properties of Corn Starch Film

For the purpose of alleviating the adverse effect of paste aging on the properties of corn starch film, a series of electroneutrally quaternized/sulfosuccinylated starches（EQSS） with different degrees of substitution（DS） were synthesized via the quaternization/sulfosuccination of acid-thinned corn starch（ATS） by varying the amounts of N-（3-chloro-2-hydroxypropl） trimethylammonium chloride, maleic anhydride, and sodium hydrogen sulfite. The influence of paste aging on the properties of starch film cast from heat-induced starch paste was investigated and the properties were explored in terms of tensile strength, elongation, work at break, degree of crystallinity, and flex-fatigue resistance. The experimental results showed that the paste ageing generated adverse influence on the elongation, work at break, and flex-fatigue resistance of starch film. Further experiments showed that electroneutral quaternization/sulfosuccination of starch were able to alleviate the negative effect of paste ageing on the elongation, work at break, and flex-fatigue resistance, thereby obviously enhancing the elongation, work at break and flex-fatigue resistance, and thus reducing the drawback of brittleness. The enhancement depended on the amounts of the substituents introduced. With the increase in DS value, the elongation and work at break as well as flex-fatigue resistance continuously rose, whereas the tensile strength gradually reduced.

Structure and tribological properties of Si/a-C:H(Ag)multilayer film in stimulated body fluid

Si/a-C:H(Ag)multilayer films with different modulation periods are prepared to test their potential applications in human body.The composition,microstructure,mechanical and tribological properties in the simulated body fluid are investigated.The results show the concentration of Ag first decreases and then increases with the modulation period decreasing from 984 nm to 250 nm.Whereas the C content has an opposite variation trend.Notably,the concentration of Ag plays a more important role than the modulation period in the properties of the multilayer film.The a-C:H sublayer of the film with an appropriate Ag concentration(8.97 at.%)(modulation period of 512 nm)maintains the highest sp3/sp2 ratio,surface roughness and hardness,and excellent tribological property in the stimulated body fluid.An appropriate number of Ag atoms and size of Ag atom allow the Ag atoms to easily enter into the contact interface for load bearing and lubricating.This work proves that the Ag nanoparticles in the a-C:H sublayer plays a more important role in the tribological properties of the composite-multilayer film in stimulated body fluid condition.

Tunable surface-plasmon-resonance wavelength of silver island films

This paper experimentally and theoretically investigates the effect of the underlayer medium on tuning of the surface plasmon resonance （SPR） wavelength of silver island films, and the effect of substrate temperature on the morphologies and optical properties of the films. From the absorption spectra of single Ag with various thickness and overcoated （Ag/TiO2） films deposited on glass substrates at various substrate temperatures by RF magnetron sputtering, we demonstrate that the surface plasmon resonance wavelength can be made tunable by changing the underlayer medium, the thickness of metal layer and the substrate temperature. By varying substrate temperatures, the interparticle coupling effects on plasmon resonances of nanosilver particles enhance as the spacing between the particles reduces. When the substrate temperature is up to 500 ℃, the absorption peak decreases sharply and shifts to shorter wavelength side due to the severe coalescence between silver islands in the film.

Effect of substrate temperature on microstructure and optical properties of single-phased Ag_2O film deposited by using radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering method

Using a radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering technique, a series of the single-phased Ag20 films are deposited in a mixture of oxygen and argon gas with a flow ratio of 2：3 by changing substrate temperature （Ts）. Effects of the Ts on the microstructure and optical properties of the films are investigated by using X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometry. The single-phased Ag20 films deposited at values of Ts below 200℃ are （111） preferentially oriented, which may be due to the smallest free energy of the （111） crystalline face. The film crystallization becomes poor as the value of Ts increases from 100℃ to 225℃. In particular, the Ag20 film deposited at Ts=225℃ loses the （111） preferential orientation. Correspondingly, the film surface morphology obviously evolves from a uniform and compact surface structure to a loose and gullied surface structure. With the increase of Ts value, the transmissivity and the reflectivity of the films in the transparent region are gradually reduced, while the absorptivity gradually increases, which may be attributed to an evolution of the crystalline structure and the surface morphology of the films.

Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles Thin Films with Various Thicknesses by AFM

Ag nanoparticles (NPs) thin films with various thicknesses were prepared by thermal evaporation method. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer were used to study the surface morphology, growth nature and optical properties of the films. The results indicate that the growth rates of Ag particles in lateral and vertical direction are variable, and the dominant growth rate of Ag particles in lateral direction will convert into dominant growth rate in vertical direction as films grow thicker. The mean value and distribution of Ag NPs height related with the location and width of SPR (surface plasmonresonance) peak. Higher mean height shifts SPR peak to longer wavelengths, and smaller deviation results in narrower width of SPR peaks.