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Electron irradiation effects in Au thin films

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics volume 32, pages 13291–13304 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Room temperature 200 keV electron irradiation effects on the area retraction behavior presented by 6.75 nm thick Au thin films deposited over a self-standing SiO\(_{2}\)/silicon nitride membrane are investigated as a function of the irradiation fluence \(\mathrm {\Phi }\). The as-deposited films already contain discontinuities (further referred as voids). The area retraction is investigated via the void growth behavior considering irradiation and thermally induced surface atoms’ migration. The film’s coverage area \(A(\mathrm {\Phi })\) and void perimeter \(P(\mathrm {\Phi })\), obtained via transmission electron microscopy observations, allow for calculating the atomic displacement causing the area retraction. These data are compared with model calculations of irradiation and thermally induced atomic fluxes. The results demonstrate that the balance between the thermal and irradiation processes strongly depends on the choice of the surface thermal diffusivity values, which present large discrepancies in the literature. Our results suggest that irradiation-induced atomic displacements follow the same thermodynamic driving forces acting in thermal processes. The work also discloses a new method to investigate surface atoms’ behavior and promote microstructural modifications at room or lower temperatures.

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Data availability

The data that support the ndings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support from Center for Microscopy and Microanalysis, Ion Implantation Laboratory and Laboratory of Nanometric Conformation—UFRGS. This study was nuanced in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001, and by Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovações—Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientíco e Tecnológico (CNPq) Grant No. 309375/2016-9.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência dos Materiais, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, BR, 91501-970, Brazil

    Franciele S. M. de Oliveira, Zacarias E. Fabrim & Paulo F. P. Fichtner

  2. Instituto de Física, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, BR, 91501-970, Brazil

    Franciele S. M. de Oliveira, Maurício J. Nogueira, Zacarias E. Fabrim & Paulo F. P. Fichtner

  3. Escola de Engenharia, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, BR, 90040-020, Brazil

    Paulo F. P. Fichtner

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  1. Franciele S. M. de Oliveira
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  2. Maurício J. Nogueira
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  3. Zacarias E. Fabrim
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  4. Paulo F. P. Fichtner
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Correspondence to Paulo F. P. Fichtner.

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de Oliveira, F.S.M., Nogueira, M.J., Fabrim, Z.E. et al. Electron irradiation effects in Au thin films. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 13291–13304 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-05907-5

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