Structural, Optical and Electronic properties of Magnetron Sputtered Si and Ge thin films

TL;DR

This study investigates the structural, optical, and electronic properties of silicon and germanium thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering, revealing insights into their surface roughness, oxide presence, and growth characteristics.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of Si and Ge thin films' properties using GIXRR, UV-VIS NIR, and XPS, highlighting differences in oxide distribution and surface roughness.

Findings

GIXRR shows no oxide on film surfaces, while XPS detects small amounts.

Surface roughness increases with film thickness, indicating columnar growth.

Oxide presence varies within Si and Ge films, affecting their properties.

Abstract

We report the results of GIXRR, UV-VIS NIR and XPS measurements on Si and Ge thin films of various thicknesses. While GIXRR measurements show no presence of oxide on the top of these films, XPS measurements show small amount of oxides. Also, a sharp increase in surface roughness is seen with thickness in agreement with the columnar growth of films. In contrast, in case of Si films, oxide is present even inside the layers but in a very small amount and is not detected in GIXRR/absorption measurements.