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Analysis of diffusion mechanisms in thin polycrystalline Au–Ag films using auger electron spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Bukaluk Antoni
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.740050106
Subject(s) - auger electron spectroscopy , crystallite , analytical chemistry (journal) , diffusion , grain boundary diffusion coefficient , arrhenius equation , thin film , sputtering , materials science , grain boundary , arrhenius plot , chemistry , activation energy , metallurgy , microstructure , nanotechnology , thermodynamics , physics , chromatography , nuclear physics
The diffusion process of silver through gold polycrystalline films 1000 Å thick for different heating times and different temperatures was studied. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) with simultaneous argon ion sputtering was used to obtain the composition profiles of silver diffusing through gold thin films. The interdiffusion coefficients were extracted from the diffusion profiles using the rate of decrease of the concentration gradient at the Au–Ag film interface (the ‘centre gradient’ method) and the rate of rise of Ag concentration plateau in the Au film (the ‘plateau rise’ method). The grain boundary diffusion coefficients have been evaluated by means of the depth profile analysis, based on the Whipple model. The activation energies of each mechanism have been determined from the Arrhenius plots.