Formation of metal/SiO2 composite thin films by IBSD technique

Metal/SiO2 composite films were fabricated by the ion-beam sputter-deposition (IBSD) technique using Metal/SiO2 complex targets. From TEM observation, the composite films were found to contain nanometer-sized ultrafine particles with excellent uniformity. According to ESCA analyses, it was found that Pd atoms form palladium silicide when Pd concentration is low enough, on the other hand, Pd tends to form the oxide rather than the silicide when Pd concentration becomes higher than 10%. In case of Ni, Zr, and Fe, which are dispersed in composite films, they tends to form oxide rather than silicide. The difference in the chemical composition formed in those composite films was tried to explain by the heat of formations between each metal silicides and oxides. (author)