Johann Vancea

Scanning tunneling microscopy on rough surfaces: quantitative image analysis

In this communication, the application of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) for a quantitative evaluation of roughnesses and mean island sizes of polycrystalline thin films is discussed. Provided strong conditions concerning the resolution are satisfied, the results are in good agreement with standard techniques as, for example, transmission electron microscopy. Owing to its high resolution, STM can supply a better characterization of surfaces than established methods, especially concerning the roughness. Microscopic interpretations of surface dependent physical properties thus can be considerably improved by a quantitative analysis of STM images.

Critical assessment of thickness-dependent conductivity of thin metal films

Abstract The possibility of determining transport parameters for the electrical conductivity from its dependence on the film thickness (size effect) is discussed. Measured conductivities are used to assess existing theories on the size effect. Only Nambas model can be fitted to experimental curves and this enables us to determine four parameters, namely the conductivity σ∞, the mean free path l∞, the specularity parameter p and the surface roughness h. The experimental curves have to be fitted for very small film thickness to permit a separation of these parameters. The most important thickness range is just that which in the past has usually been excluded from discussion. Careful experiments and careful computer fittings will enable investigations of electronic states in distorted metal films.

Scanning tunneling microscopy on rough surfaces: Deconvolution of constant current images

This letter critically discusses the topographical information obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on surfaces with a mesoscopic roughness, i.e., in the range of some nm’s. In a foregoing publication [J. Appl. Phys. 67, 1156 (1990)], we already treated the evaluation of constant current images based on the knowledge of the real surface and the shape of the tunneling tip (‘‘tip shape limited resolution’’). Now we deal with the invers problem: the reconstruction of the real surface topography based on the corresponding STM image and the tip shape, using a simple, straightforward formalism.

Scanning tunneling microscopy on rough surfaces: Tip‐shape‐limited resolution

This paper discusses the reliability of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of mesoscopically rough surfaces. The specific structure of these images represents a convolution between the real surface topography and the shape of the tip. In order to interpret these images quantitatively, the line scans of steep and high steps can be used to obtain an image of the tip itself. This image shows tip radii ranging typically from 5 to 15 nm and cone angles of about 30° over a length of 80 nm, and can in turn be used to recognize the limits of STM resolution on a rough surface: High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy cross‐section images of Au island films on a Au‐Nb double layer are convoluted with the experimentally observed tip shape; the resulting line scans correspond very well with STM graphs of the same samples. Finally an overall criterion for the resolution of the STM on such surfaces is proposed.

Mean free path and effective density of conduction electrons in polycrystalline metal films

The thickness dependence of the conductivity of copper, aluminium, silver, gold, nickel and platinum films was measured with high accuracy for various conditions of the evaporation. The Fuchs-Namba model was the only one which could be fitted to the experimental data. Four parameters were determined: σ∞, l ∞, p and h . The ratioσ∞/l∞ is not a constant of the material but depends on the crystallite size. The related effective electron density n ∞ is less than the value n b for bulk single-crystal material. The method employed allows us to separate to volume and surface effects on the conductivity as well as to separate the scattering of electrons inside the crystallites from the reflections of electrons by the crystallite boundaries.

Influence of the incident angle of energetic carbon ions on the properties of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films

Tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films have been grown on Ar+-beam-cleaned silicon substrates by changing the incident angle of energetic carbon ions produced in the plasma of pulsed cathodic vacuum arc discharge. Their surface roughness, deposition rate, composition, and mechanical and frictional properties as a function of the incident angle of energetic carbon ions were reported. The substrate holder can be rotated, and so an angle of deposition was defined as the angle of ion flux with respect to the substrate surface. While the deposition angle is varied from 20° to 59°, the root-mean-square (rms) roughness decreases from 0.5 to 0.1 nm, then it turns to increase at a slow rate when the deposition angle is over 77°. The variation correlates well with the one of hardness with the deposition angle and the films with lower rms roughness exhibit the higher hardness. The soft graphite-like surface layers existing at the surfaces of these films were revealed by atomic force microscopy-based nanowear tests and their thickness increases from 0.35 to 2.9 nm with the deposition angle decreasing from 90° to 30°. The soft surface layer thickness can have a great effect on the sp3 contents measured by x-ray photoelectron spectra. Nanoscale friction coefficient measurements were performed from lateral force microscopy by using a V-shaped Si3N4 cantilever. The low friction coefficients (0.076–0.093) of ta-C films can be attributed to their graphite-like surface structure. The implications of these results on the mechanisms proposed for the film formation were discussed.Tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films have been grown on Ar+-beam-cleaned silicon substrates by changing the incident angle of energetic carbon ions produced in the plasma of pulsed cathodic vacuum arc discharge. Their surface roughness, deposition rate, composition, and mechanical and frictional properties as a function of the incident angle of energetic carbon ions were reported. The substrate holder can be rotated, and so an angle of deposition was defined as the angle of ion flux with respect to the substrate surface. While the deposition angle is varied from 20° to 59°, the root-mean-square (rms) roughness decreases from 0.5 to 0.1 nm, then it turns to increase at a slow rate when the deposition angle is over 77°. The variation correlates well with the one of hardness with the deposition angle and the films with lower rms roughness exhibit the higher hardness. The soft graphite-like surface layers existing at the surfaces of these films were revealed by atomic force microscopy-based nanowear test...

THE ORIGIN OF THE INTEGRAL BARRIER HEIGHT IN INHOMOGENEOUS AU/CO/GAAS67P33-SCHOTTKY CONTACTS : A BALLISTIC ELECTRON EMISSION MICROSCOPY STUDY

In this work we investigated the relationship between the integral Schottky barrier height (SBH) obtained from conventional current–voltage (I–V) measurement and the distribution of the local SBH measured by ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) on a nanometer scale length. For this purpose, we investigated inhomogeneous Au/Co/GaAs67P33-Schottky contacts. The samples were prepared by the deposition of a discontinuous Co film on the semiconductor followed by the deposition of a continuous Au film. This provided regions with local presence of one or the other metal (Au or Co) at the metal-semiconductor interface, resulting in mesoscopically extended SBH inhomogeneities. The local SBH distribution as well as the integral SBH depended on the preparation parameter of the Co layer, i.e., on the combination of the substrate temperature (300 or 500 K) and the nominal Co thickness (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0 nm). For the different preparation parameters, statistical distributions of the local SBH were measured by BEEM. Treating these SBH distributions in terms of a parallel conduction model for the electron transport across the MS interface, we calculated for each preparation parameter an integral SBH and compared it with the measured integral SBH obtained from conventional I–V measurement. The calculated and measured integral SBH’s were in very good agreement, demonstrating clearly the strong influence of the low SBH regions on the electron transport across the interface and therefore on the integral SBH. The SBH values for homogeneous Au/GaAs67P33- and Co/GaAs67P33-Schottky contacts, i.e., with only one sort of metal at the interface, were determined to be ΦSBAu=1180±10 meV and ΦSBCo=1030±10 meV. As with regard to the inhomogeneous Schottky contacts the fraction of area of the MS interface covered by Co increased, the local SBH distributions as well as the integral SBH’s decreased gradually from the value of ΦSBAu to ΦSBCo.In this work we investigated the relationship between the integral Schottky barrier height (SBH) obtained from conventional current–voltage (I–V) measurement and the distribution of the local SBH measured by ballistic electron emission microscopy (BEEM) on a nanometer scale length. For this purpose, we investigated inhomogeneous Au/Co/GaAs67P33-Schottky contacts. The samples were prepared by the deposition of a discontinuous Co film on the semiconductor followed by the deposition of a continuous Au film. This provided regions with local presence of one or the other metal (Au or Co) at the metal-semiconductor interface, resulting in mesoscopically extended SBH inhomogeneities. The local SBH distribution as well as the integral SBH depended on the preparation parameter of the Co layer, i.e., on the combination of the substrate temperature (300 or 500 K) and the nominal Co thickness (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0 nm). For the different preparation parameters, statistical distributions of the local SBH were measured...

POTENTIAL PINCH-OFF EFFECT IN INHOMOGENEOUS AU/CO/GAAS67P33(100)-SCHOTTKY CONTACTS

In this work ballistic electron emission microscopy was used to probe on nanometer scale the local Schottky barrier height in metal-semiconductor (MS) contacts with an intentionally inhomogeneously prepared metallization. Schottky barrier maps of heterogeneous Au/Co/ GaAs67P33(100)-Schottky contacts show areas with different barrier heights which can be correlated to different metallizations (Au or Co) at the interface. The local Schottky barrier height of the Co patches depends on their lateral extension. This result can be explained by the theory of the potential pinch-off effect in inhomogeneous MS contacts.

Surface scattering of electrons in metals

Abstract The specularity, given by its parameter p, was evaluated from the thickness dependence of the conductivity by applying the Fuchs-Namba model. The specularity does not depend on the geometrical surface roughness. In platinum films it was found that the specularity increased with increasing fraction of (111) orientation of the crystallites at the surface. This orientation is free from surface reconstruction. The influence of point defects was investigated by coating the surface of copper films with nickel atoms. The increase in the resistivity with increasing coating by nickel atoms allows a quantitative determination of the related scattering cross section.

Oxide thickness mapping of ultrathin Al2O3 at nanometer scale with conducting atomic force microscopy

In this work, we introduce conducting atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) for the quantitative electrical characterization of ultrathin Al2O3 films on a nanometer scale length. By applying a voltage between the AFM tip and the conductive Co substrate direct tunneling currents in the sub pA range are measured simultaneously to the oxide surface topography. From the microscopic I–V characteristics the local oxide thickness can be obtained with an accuracy of 0.03 nm. A conversion scheme was developed, which allows the calculation of three-dimensional maps of the local electrical oxide thickness with sub-angstrom thickness resolution and nanometer lateral resolution from the tunneling current images. Local tunneling current variations of up to three decades are correlated with the topography and local variations of the electrical oxide thickness of only a few angstroms.In this work, we introduce conducting atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) for the quantitative electrical characterization of ultrathin Al2O3 films on a nanometer scale length. By applying a voltage between the AFM tip and the conductive Co substrate direct tunneling currents in the sub pA range are measured simultaneously to the oxide surface topography. From the microscopic I–V characteristics the local oxide thickness can be obtained with an accuracy of 0.03 nm. A conversion scheme was developed, which allows the calculation of three-dimensional maps of the local electrical oxide thickness with sub-angstrom thickness resolution and nanometer lateral resolution from the tunneling current images. Local tunneling current variations of up to three decades are correlated with the topography and local variations of the electrical oxide thickness of only a few angstroms.