Thin Films Material Characterization

A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials such as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many applications^[1]. A familiar example is the household mirror, which typically has a thin metal coating on the back of a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. Thin film technology has also been applied to pharmaceuticals, via thin-film drug delivery. With the rapid development of science, a large number of films with various functions have been widely used, playing important roles in the field of materials. The chemical/physical analysis of advanced thin-films is high in demand in some industries, such as phase-change optical disk media, thermoelectric materials, light emitting diodes (LEDs), phase change memories, flat panel displays, etc.

Thin Films Analysis

There are many different kinds of thin film materials and applications, and currently what are widely used include: superconducting film, conductive film, resistive film, semiconductor film, dielectric film, insulation film, passivation and protection film, piezoelectric film, ferroelectric film, photoelectric film, magneto-optical films, etc. Alfa Chemistry offers a broad range of instruments to characterize thin films including metal materials, electronic semiconductor devices, LEDs, optical coatings (such as antireflective coatings), hard coatings on cutting tools, energy generation (e.g. thin-film solar cells) and storage (thin-film batteries) films, etc. For thin film materials we have our own set of analytical methods and processes, of which the following is only for your reference:

Structure Characterization of Thin Films: Properties of the film depends on the film structure and composition, wherein the film structure may be divided into three levels according to their size range: 1.The macroscopic morphology of thin film, including the size of the film, the shape, thickness, etc. 2.The microscopic morphology of thin film. For example, the size and distribution of crystal grains and phases. 3. The microstructure of thin film, including the defects in the crystal, etc. Based on the scale of the study, different research methods can be selected.

Instruments

• Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

• Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

• X-Ray Diffraction Spectrometry (XRD)

• Low-Energy Electron Diffraction and Reflective High-Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED/RHEELD)

• Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

• Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)

• Variable Angle Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (VEL)

Composition Characterization of Thin Films:

Many physical and chemical methods can be used to analyze the chemical composition of the material surface at present, but often only an average chemical composition can be specified, because it is hard to know the chemical composition of micro surface features. Here at Alfa Chemistry , we have advanced equipment to accurately measure the elemental composition and chemical composition of the film by the following：

Instruments

• Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX)

• Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES)

• X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)

• FTIR/Raman Spectroscopy

Services

Alfa Chemistry has advanced equipment operated by professional scientists and engineers. We can provide accurate and reliable test results within the time constraint. We offer thin film materials and products testing for raw material assessment, product development, and quality control as well as new product and material evaluation. We have conducted failure analysis, structure analysis, composition analysis and other analysis for different thin film materials. If you have any thin film analysis request, please feel free to contact us.

Reference

• Functional Polymer Films Eds. R. Advincula and W. Knoll – Wiley,2011, ISBN 978-3527321902.