Characterization of Al and Al-Cr-Al Thin Films

Abstract

ABSTRACTTEM, X-ray diffraction, and electrical resistivity measurements were used to study the microstructure and the growth of AI-Cr-AI film sandwiches, where the individual Al layers were 300 Å thick and the Cr thickness was varied between 0–10 atomic layers. The base vacuum was around 1.0 × 10−10 torr, substrate temperatures varied between 100–350 °C, and evaporation rates were 3Å/s for Al and ∼0.1 – 0.2 Å/s for Cr. All Al films had a strong (111) texture and showed a non-percolative island structure at 350 °C. The films became connected at lower substrate temperatures, reaching perfect continuity at 100°C. However, electrical conductivity is achieved also for the films deposited at 350 °C when one or more atomic layers of Cr are sandwiched between the Al layers. Results for the superconducting critical temperature and resistivity are discussed in terms of Cr diffusion into Al and the film size effect.