The impact of deposition time on the morphological and structural characteristics of silver nanoparticles using the DC sputtering process

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles were prepared on glass substrates at room temperature using four different deposition times (10, 15, 20, and 25 minutes). The dc magnetron sputtering technique is used to prepare the surface, with thicknesses of (30, 40, 50, and 60) nm, respectively. The effect of deposition times on the microstructure and morphology of the surface of deposited thin films was examined. Moreover, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and atomic force microscopy were used to examine the structural properties and morphological characterization of sputtered films. Parameters such as crystallite size are also measured. The research indicates that the XRD pattern has a polycrystalline structure with a preference for orientation along the (111) axis. The AFM images confirmed that the thin films shaped uniformly distributed spherical particles (in terms of size). Finally, increasing the film thickness causes the average surface roughness of the films to increase between (2.6-11.6) nm.