Martin Dubau

Preparation of Magnetron Sputtered Thin Cerium Oxide Films with a Large Surface on Silicon Substrates Using Carbonaceous Interlayers

The study focuses on preparation of thin cerium oxide films with a porous structure prepared by rf magnetron sputtering on a silicon wafer substrate using amorphous carbon (a-C) and nitrogenated amorphous carbon films (CNx) as an interlayer. We show that the structure and morphology of the deposited layers depend on the oxygen concentration in working gas used for cerium oxide deposition. Considerable erosion of the carbonaceous interlayer accompanied by the formation of highly porous carbon/cerium oxide bilayer systems is reported. Etching of the carbon interlayer with oxygen species occurring simultaneously with cerium oxide film growth is considered to be the driving force for this effect resulting in the formation of nanostructured cerium oxide films with large surface. In this regard, results of oxygen plasma treatment of a-C and CNx films are presented. Gradual material erosion with increasing duration of plasma impact accompanied by modification of the surface roughness is reported for both types of films. The CNx films were found to be much less resistant to oxygen etching than the a-C film.

X-ray small-angle scattering from sputtered CeO2/C bilayers

Surface and interface morphology of cerium oxide/carbon bilayers used as thin-film catalysts is studied by grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic-force microscopy, and the dependence of the structural parameters on the thicknesses of the constituting layers is investigated. The applicability of x-ray scattering and its advantages over standard analytical methods are discussed.