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Phys. Rev. B 63, 193407 (2001) [4 pages]

Particle layering in the ceramic-metal thin film Pt-Al2O3

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A. Gibaud1, S. Hazra1, C. Sella2, P. Laffez1, A. Désert1, A. Naudon3, and G. Van Tendeloo4
1Laboratoire de Physique de l’Etat Condensé, UPRES A 6087 CNRS, Faculté des Sciences, Université du Maine, 72085 Le Mans, France
2Laboratoire d’Optique des Solides, Université de Paris VI, Case 80, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France
3Laboratoire de Métallurgie Physique, UMR 6630 CNRS, Université de Poitiers, 86960 Futuroscope, France
4EMAT, University of Antwerp (RUCA), Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020, Antwerp, Belgium

Received 11 July 2000; revised 10 January 2001; published 25 April 2001

Experiments performed by x-ray reflectivity, grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on a cosputtered nanocermet thin film of Pt-Al2O3 are presented. It is shown that the morphology of such a heterogeneous material can be well interpreted by combining the information obtained from the three techniques. In particular, the layering of metal nanoparticles in the immediate vicinity of the substrate is clearly evidenced. GISAXS results are interpreted via a model which yields spherical nanoparticles of diameter 2R=3.1 nm, separated on the average by a distance of 5.8 nm. The evidence for the layering of particles close to the substrate is deduced from the analysis of the specular reflectivity and probed directly by TEM.


©2001 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v63/e193407
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.63.193407
PACS: 68.55.-a, 61.10.Kw, 68.37.Lp, 61.46.+w

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