Abstract. We studied the deposition of palladium on silicon using a high-frequency argon plasma. It is shown that the argon ions are focused and sputtered a biased helicoidal palladium wire. An auxiliary continuous discharge enhancing palladium evaporation rate is obtained for a pressure and bias voltage above 50 m Torr and -200 V respectively, as revealed by optical emission spectroscopy. The growth rate is between 0.5 and 20 Å as deduced from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Scanning tunnelling microscopy studies reveal that growth proceeds through nucleation.

Print publication: Issue 3 (August 1996)
Received 4 March 1996, in final form 1 May 1996