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The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films
Cu–Ag thin films with various atomic ratios were prepared using a co-sputtering technique, followed by rapid thermal annealing at various temperatures. The films’ structural, mechanical, and electrical properties were then characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM)...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2016
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5457197/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28774033 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma9110914 |
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author | Hsieh, Janghsing Hung, Shunyang |
author_facet | Hsieh, Janghsing Hung, Shunyang |
author_sort | Hsieh, Janghsing |
collection | PubMed |
description | Cu–Ag thin films with various atomic ratios were prepared using a co-sputtering technique, followed by rapid thermal annealing at various temperatures. The films’ structural, mechanical, and electrical properties were then characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), FESEM, nano-indentation, and TEM as functions of compositions and annealing conditions. In the as-deposited condition, the structure of these films transformed from a one-phase to a dual-phase state, and the resistivity shows a twin-peak pattern, which can be explained in part by Nordheim’s Rule and the miscibility gap of Cu–Ag alloy. After being annealed, the films’ resistivity followed the mixture rule in general, mainly due to the formation of a dual-phase structure containing Ag-rich and Cu-rich phases. The surface morphology and structure also varied as compositions and annealing conditions changed. The recrystallization of these films varied depending on Ag–Cu compositions. The annealed films composed of 40 at % to 60 at % Cu had higher hardness and lower roughness than those with other compositions. Particularly, the Cu(50)Ag(50) film had the highest hardness after being annealed. From the dissolution testing, it was found that the Cu-ion concentration was about 40 times higher than that of Ag. The galvanic effect and over-saturated state could be the cause of the accelerated Cu dissolution and the reduced dissolution of the Ag. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5457197 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-54571972017-07-28 The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films Hsieh, Janghsing Hung, Shunyang Materials (Basel) Article Cu–Ag thin films with various atomic ratios were prepared using a co-sputtering technique, followed by rapid thermal annealing at various temperatures. The films’ structural, mechanical, and electrical properties were then characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), FESEM, nano-indentation, and TEM as functions of compositions and annealing conditions. In the as-deposited condition, the structure of these films transformed from a one-phase to a dual-phase state, and the resistivity shows a twin-peak pattern, which can be explained in part by Nordheim’s Rule and the miscibility gap of Cu–Ag alloy. After being annealed, the films’ resistivity followed the mixture rule in general, mainly due to the formation of a dual-phase structure containing Ag-rich and Cu-rich phases. The surface morphology and structure also varied as compositions and annealing conditions changed. The recrystallization of these films varied depending on Ag–Cu compositions. The annealed films composed of 40 at % to 60 at % Cu had higher hardness and lower roughness than those with other compositions. Particularly, the Cu(50)Ag(50) film had the highest hardness after being annealed. From the dissolution testing, it was found that the Cu-ion concentration was about 40 times higher than that of Ag. The galvanic effect and over-saturated state could be the cause of the accelerated Cu dissolution and the reduced dissolution of the Ag. MDPI 2016-11-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5457197/ /pubmed/28774033 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma9110914 Text en © 2016 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Hsieh, Janghsing Hung, Shunyang The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films |
title | The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films |
title_full | The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films |
title_fullStr | The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films |
title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films |
title_short | The Effect of Cu:Ag Atomic Ratio on the Properties of Sputtered Cu–Ag Alloy Thin Films |
title_sort | effect of cu:ag atomic ratio on the properties of sputtered cu–ag alloy thin films |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5457197/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28774033 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma9110914 |
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