Growth morphology and phase composition of hierarchically self-organized oxyspinel composite films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Multicomponent Al0.1Si0,05Ti0,1Mn1.45Co0.7Ni0.6O4 oxyspinel solid solution ceramics was synthesized to be subsequently used as a target for the deposition of thin films onto silicon and metallized silicon substrates by means of radio frequency sputtering method. Temporal evolution of chemical and phase compositions of the deposited layers, as well as their structure and surface morphology for the different substrate temperatures, have been systematically investigated using energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis, secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) profiling, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The samples revealed a uniform chemical composition throughout their whole depth, corresponding well with the formula unit of the spinel. Across the film depth, progressive developing of a self-organized, two-scale hierarchical composite structure was observed, which is composed of the main oxide grains decorated with spinel nanocrystallites.