Title: Nucleation of Nb Films on Cu Substrates
Author: Anne Marie Valente-Feliciano
Institution: Jlab
Abstract: In the pursuit of niobium (Nb) films with similar performance with the commonly used bulk Nb surfaces for Superconducting RF (SRF) applications, significant progress has been made with the development of energetic condensation deposition techniques. The controlled incoming ion energy enables a number of processes such as desorption of adsorbed species, enhanced mobility of surface atoms and sub-implantation of impinging ions, thus producing improved film structures at lower process temperatures. All these along with the quality of the Cu substrate have an important influence on the nucleation and subsequent growth of the Nb film, creating a favorable template for growing the final surface exposed to SRF fields. This contribution shows how the structure and defect density thus electron mean free path (represented by residual resistance ratio values) of Nb films can be tailored on Cu substrates, by varying the ion energy and thermal energy provided to the substrate, favoring the hetero-epitaxial or the fiber growth mode.
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