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. 2016 Sep 12:6:33136.
doi: 10.1038/srep33136.

Dynamics of surface evolution in semiconductor thin films grown from a chemical bath

Indu Gupta  1 , Bhaskar Chandra Mohanty  1
Affiliations

Dynamics of surface evolution in semiconductor thin films grown from a chemical bath

Indu Gupta et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Dynamics of surface evolution in CdS thin films grown by chemical bath deposition technique has been studied from time sequence of atomic force micrographs. Detailed scaling analysis of surface fluctuation in real and Fourier space yielded characteristic exponents αloc = 0.78 ± 0.07, α = 2.20 ± 0.08, αs = 1.49 ± 0.22, β = 0.86 ± 0.05 and βloc = 0.43 ± 0.10, which are very different from those predicted by the local growth models and are not related to any known universality classes. The observed anomalous scaling pattern, characterized by power law scaling dependence of interface width on deposition time differently at local and global scale, with rapid roughening of the growth front has been discussed to arise as a consequence of a nonlocal effect in the form of diffusional instability.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. 2 μm × 2 μm AFM images of CBD CdS thin films grown under identical experimental conditions for different durations and the corresponding line profiles across the scan areas.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Log-log plot of the height-height correlation function G(r, t) estimated for the films of different deposition times.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Logarithmic plots of (a) lateral correlation length ξ and (b) interface width w versus deposition time.
In the bottom panel, solid circles (⚫) and open squares (□) represent the data points corresponding to global width and the local width, respectively. Solid lines in both panels are the linear fits to the data. The values of the slopes are indicated.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Logarithmic plot of G(r, t)/r2α versus r/tβ/α for different growth times showing a good data collapse of the height-height correlation function.
The solid lines are linear fits to the data points.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Logarithmic plot of power spectral density function S(k, t) versus wave number k for different growth times.
The slope of the curves for large k values is indicated. Inset: Time dependence curve of S(k, t) in the low k-regime. The line denotes the linear fit to the data points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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