Characteristics of sputter deposited Pt/Al₂O₃ thin films

Pt/Al₂O₃ thin films were prepared using a reactive co-sputtering deposition technique. Two types of power controls were used. In one type, both the DC (for the Pt target) and RF power (for the Al₂O₃ target) were on for the entire deposition period. In the second type, the RF power was always on while the DC power was pulsed. The resulting materials were analyzed using glazing incident X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The optical performance of the obtained films was examined using UV–vis–NIR spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. We show that the films obtained using the second type power control results in desired microstructures, leading to a total optical absorptance of 0.80.