XPS combined with MM-EPES technique for in situ study of ultra thin film deposition: Application to an Au/SiO2/Si structure

An in situ method based on the combination between XPS and MM-EPES techniques is developed in order to study the growth mode and to determine the nanostructure surface of a deposited ultra thin film on solid substrate by determining both the thickness and the covering. In this way, XPS and MM-EPES modeling are done by adapting a simple approach of the surface organization. Then this method is used to study a gold film deposition on an oxidized silicon substrate. This study leads to determine accurately the surface organization and thus the growth mode. Moreover, the obtained results were validated by performing microscopic measurement by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). AFM and SEM results show a good agreement with those determined by the combination of XPS and MM-EPES techniques. Moreover, experiment shows that this method is able to determine surface parameters when the microscopy techniques do not give any information in the case of a small quantity of deposited Au.