Photoelectron spectroscopy study of metallic nanocluster arrangement at the surface of reactively sputtered amorphous hydrogenated carbon

Abstract

We report on the results of the arrangement of isolated surface metallic nanoclusters embedded in amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) thin films, studied by photoelectron spectroscopy. As a model system we used gold-containing amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:HAu), due to the lack of reactivity between carbon and gold. The a-C:HAu samples are obtained by simultaneous magnetron sputtering of Au target by argon and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of methane. Photoelectron spectroscopy with x-ray and ultraviolet excitation has been employed for surface studies that comprise as-deposited sample spectra recordings, measurements at off-normal takeoff angle, in situ in-depth profiling by Ar+ ion etching, and thiophene adsorption at the sample surface. The results of these extended studies firmly support previously drawn conclusions [I. R. Videnović, V. Thommen, P. Oelhafen, D. Mathys, M. Düggelin, and R. Guggenheim, Appl. Phys. Lett 80, 2863 (2002)] that by deposition on electrically grounded substrates one obtains samples with topmost Au clusters covered with a thin layer of a-C:H. Introducing a dc substrate bias voltage results in bald Au clusters on the surface and increased sp2 sp3 coordinated carbon ratio in the a-C:H matrix. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.