Production and deposition of energetic metal nanocluster ions of silver on Si substrates

In this study we report the growth, morphology, structures, and composition of silver nanocluster films on Si substrates. DC Magnetron discharge is used to generate the clusters inside a liquid nitrogen cooled aggregation tube. The morphology of the films was characterised by Scanning Electron Microscopy attached with Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (SEM/EDX) and the structural information of the films was investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to get the composition of the films developed. In order to understand the effect of ion irradiation for possible alterations in the morphology, one sample was irradiated by energetic argon ions. Apart from these studies, the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was also carried out in order to get an idea about the height distribution profiles and scaling aspects of the surface morphology of Ag-nanocluster films. Comparing SEM and AFM results in a signature of cluster flattening has been confirmed.