Highly adhesive Pt-electrode films directly deposited on SiO2 by electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma sputtering

Pt films directly deposited on SiO2 by electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR) plasma sputtering and DC-magnetron sputtering have been compared in terms of their performance as electrodes. The DC-magnetron sputtered Pt film consisted of sharply (111) oriented crystallites, which was reflected in hexagonal crystallites observed in atomic force microscopy images. While ECR-sputtered Pt film was also (111) oriented, the X-ray diffraction rocking curve of the (111) peak was broader than that of the DC-magnetron sputtered film. The surface image revealed fine grains, thus having a flatter surface. A scratch test revealed that ECR-sputtered films had an adhesive strength about twice that of DC-magnetron-sputtered films, which was consistent with our tape-test results. Possible reasons for the different adhesion characteristics are discussed.