Structural, Optical and Electronic properties of Magnetron Sputtered Si and Ge thin films

Abstract

We report the results of GIXRR, UV-VIS NIR and XPS measurements on Si and Ge thin films of various thicknesses. While GIXRR measurements show no presence of oxide on the top of these films, XPS measurements show small amount of oxides. Also, a sharp increase in surface roughness is seen with thickness in agreement with the columnar growth of films. In contrast, in case of Si films, oxide is present even inside the layers but in a very small amount and is not detected in GIXRR/absorption measurements.