Complementary investigation of SEM and AFM on the morphology of sputtered aluminum thin films

Abstract

This article reports on the evolution of surface characteristics with the temperature for aluminum thin films sputtered on mild steel substrates. The films were sputtered at a constant sputtering power of 200 W and at different temperatures of the substrate; 40 degree celsius, 60 degree celsius, 80 degree celsius and 100 degree celsius. Surface microstructures were observed using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and the results complemented by the atomic force microscope (AFM) observations. It was shown that FESEM features such as porosity, clusters and morphology can be revealed via the AFM imaging. Further analyses using AFM were then used to describe the morphology and evolution of the films at different substrate temperatures. The surface features were further related to the nanoindentation properties of the films.