Microstructure, porosity and roughness of RF sputtered oxide thin films: Characterization and modelization

Spinel CoMnFeO4 thin films are stable materials useful to study the influence of radio-frequency (RF) sputtering experimental conditions on the microstructure of oxide films. It has been demonstrated by various techniques such as electronic and atomic force microscopy (AFM), gas adsorption techniques and ellipsometry, that films prepared with 0.5 Pa sputtering argon pressure and 5 cm target-substrate distance are very dense. On the other hand, the samples obtained under higher pressure and/or longer distances are microporous with a mean pore size generally lower than 2 nm. The specific surface areas of such films reach about 75 m2/g. According to the simple model proposed, the films are made of three layers. From the bottom to the top of the film, the first one at the interface with the substrate is 100% dense. The second layer is made of cylindrical rods set up according to a compact plane. Its porosity is due to the lattice interstices. Hemispheric domes covering each rod make up the third layer, which displays a degree of roughness related to the shape and the hexagonal arrangement of the domes. The surface enhancement factor (SEF), the porosity and roughness, calculated from the model, are in corroboration with the experimental values. The porosity factor is however slightly underestimated by the model for very porous samples