SURFACE MORPHOLOGY AND GROWTH MECHANISM OF THE Al FILMS DEPOSITED ON LIQUID SURFACES

Abstract

An aluminum film system,deposited on the silicone oil drop surfaces by vapor deposition method,has been fabricated and its surface morphologies as well as growth mechanism have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy.The granular size of Al film on oil surface is smaller than that of Al film on the silicon substrate.It is observed that the granular size distribution is inhomogeneous and the surface fluctuation is moderately large in the film samples.Furthermore,we find that the perpendicular fluctuation of the lower surface is more remarkable than that of the upper surface of the Al film.Near the edge of the silicone oil drop,an anomalous wedge shaped structure with a slope of 10-4—10-5 spontaneously forms and its growth mechanism can be interpreted as thethermal expansion of the liquid substrates.