Effect of afm scan size on the scaling law of sputtered aluminium thin films

F. M. Mwema*, Esther T. Akinlabi, O. P. Oladijo, Stephen A. Akinlabi, S. Hassan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of scan size of the atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging on the fractal characteristics of aluminium thin films deposited on stainless steel substrates by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering is presented. Three scan sizes of 3 × 3 μm, 5 × 5 μm and 10 × 10 μm were used to obtain the images on the AFM facility. Visual examination revealed that using very high scan size (10 × 10 μm) captured poorer images, although with more features. One-dimensional fractal dimensions were obtained as 1.610 ± 0.012, 1.606 ± 0.011 and 1.563 ± 0.014 for scan sizes of 3 × 3 μm, 5 × 5 μm and 10 × 10 μm, respectively. Multifractal analyses revealed that images obtained at lower scan sizes (3 × 3 μm and 5 × 5 μm) were mono-fractal, whereas those obtained at scan size of 10 × 10 μm were multifractal. The results suggest that the scan size can significantly influence the scaling results of the AFM measurements and therefore should be carefully chosen.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Manufacturing Engineering - Selected Articles from ICMMPE 2019
EditorsSeyed Sattar Emamian, Farazila Yusof, Mokhtar Awang
PublisherSpringer
Pages171-176
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)9789811557521
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes
Event5th International Conference on Mechanical, Manufacturing and Plant Engineering, ICMMPE 2019 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Duration: 19 Nov 201921 Nov 2019

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering
ISSN (Print)2195-4356
ISSN (Electronic)2195-4364

Conference

Conference5th International Conference on Mechanical, Manufacturing and Plant Engineering, ICMMPE 2019
Country/TerritoryMalaysia
CityKuala Lumpur
Period19/11/1921/11/19

Keywords

  • Aluminium
  • Atomic force microscopy (AFM)
  • Scan size
  • Sputtering
  • Thin films

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