The effects of the crystal structure of a thin barrier on radiation assisted interaction between Au and Cu thin films

20 nm of iron, cobalt and nickel films were deposited on three samples of gold film substrates. 60 nm of copper film was deposited on these thin films of iron, cobalt and nickel. The samples thus prepared were bombarded by 150 keV N ions, and were studied by means of XPS, Auger depth profiling and scanning Auger imaging. It was observed that nickel proves to be a better barrier although copper diffuses into gold without involvement of nickel. Iron also acts as a barrier to a lesser extent whereas grains of cobalt (oriented with 0001 planes at right angles to the direction of implantation) collapse under bombardment. (author)