Experimental investigations of the initial stages of Pd-Ag alloy thin film growth

Thin films of palladium alloy B1 (Pd 83 Ag 17 ) with a thickness of 3–300 Å grown on the surface of different substrates by the high-frequency diode sputtering method are investigated. The dependence of the film microstructure on the temperature and growth rate, substrate composition and morphology is studied. It is demonstrated experimentally that the growth of palladium films of the alloy B1 at the initial stages (3–25 Å) to a great extent depends on the deposition rate of the film. substrate temperature and also the material and morphology of the substrate. The temperature dependence of the growth rate follows the known thermodynamic relations, while the dependence of the flux density does not follow these. Different growth mechanisms are possible on different substrates. It is established that films of the alloy B1 with a thickness of up to 300 Å inherit the microstructure formed at the initial growth stage (3–25 Å).