Microstructure of metal coatings deposited using ion-beam processes

Ion beam deposition processes were used to influence the microstructure and scattering characteristics of gold and platinum coatings. These metallic coatings were deposited onto super-polished fused silica and Zerodur substrates. They were deposited using thermal evaporation, ion assisted deposition, sputtering, and ion assisted sputtering. The microstructure of these films was characterized using an optical scatterometer, an optical profilometer, a stylus profilometer, scanning tunneling microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. We found that these metallic coatings deposited using ion beam deposition produced lower optical scattering and related surface microroughness.