Morphology Studies of Oxide Films Deposited by Rf Plasma Technique

Recently, an energetic film growth technique was developed. In this process, an RF (radio frequency) plasma was ignited in an ambient atmospheric environment. An aqueous solution was excited into mist, which was then fed into the plasma reactor. After vaporization, films were formed on substrates outside the plasma. As a by-product, small amount of powders were collected in the plasma reactor. Films studied were indium-tin oxide (ITO), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), and lanthanum strontium manganite oxides (LaSrMnO). Films and powders were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX, EDS), and Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) transmission measurements. Morphology of a film surface was dependent on deposition conditions, such as chemical composition of the precursor materials, precursor feeding rate, and/or substrate temperature.