Journal Article

IMPULSE-2024-00203

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Investigating Gold Deposition with High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering and Direct-Current Magnetron Sputtering on Polystyrene, Poly-4-vinylpyridine, and Polystyrene Sulfonic Acid

Bulut, Y. ; Sochor, B. ; Reck, K. A. ; Schummer, B. ; Meinhardt, A. ; Drewes, J. ; Liang, S. ; Guan, T. ; Jeromin, A. ; Stierle, A. ; Keller, T. F. ; Strunskus, T. ; Faupel, F. ; Müller-Buschbaum, P.MLZ* ; Roth, S. V.

2024
ACS Publ. Washington, DC

Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c02344

Abstract: Fabricating thin metal layers and particularly observing their formation process in situ is of fundamental interest to tailor the quality of such a layer on polymers for organic electronics. In particular, the process of high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) for establishing thin metal layers has sparsely been explored in situ. Hence, in this study, we investigate the growth of thin gold (Au) layers with HiPIMS and compare their growth with thin Au layers prepared by conventional direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS). Au was chosen because it is an inert noble metal and has a high scattering length density. This allows us to track the growing nanostructures via grazing incidence scattering. In particular, Au deposition on the polymer polystyrene (PS) with the respective structural analogues poly-4-vinlypyridine (P4VP) and polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) is studied. Additionally, the nanostructured layers on these different polymer films are further probed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray reflectometry (XRR), and four-point probe measurements. We report that HiPIMS leads to smaller island-to-island distances throughout the whole sputter process. Moreover, an increased cluster density and an earlier percolation threshold are achieved compared to dcMS. Additionally, in the early stage, we observe a significant increase in coverage by HiPIMS, which is favorable for the improvement of the polymer–metal interface.

Keyword(s): Energy (1st) ; Industrial Application (2nd) ; Materials Science (2nd)

---

Contributing Institute(s):

1. Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ)
2. E13 (E13)

Experiment(s):

1. No specific instrument

---

Database coverage:
; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences ; Ebsco Academic Search ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF < 5 ; JCR ; Nationallizenz ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection

---