Eliminating nanometer-scale asperities on metallic thin films through plasma modification processes studied by molecular dynamics and AFM

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Tsuyama, Tomoyuki, Oyama, Tatsuki, Azuma, Yu, Ohashi, Haruhisa, Irie, Masahiro, Yamakawa, Ayumi, Uetake, Shoko, Konno, Takayuki, Ukai, Takahiro, Ochiai, Kohei, Iwaoka, Nobuyuki, Hashimoto, Atsushi, Okuno, Yoshishige
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866913689256329216
author Tsuyama, Tomoyuki
Oyama, Tatsuki
Azuma, Yu
Ohashi, Haruhisa
Irie, Masahiro
Yamakawa, Ayumi
Uetake, Shoko
Konno, Takayuki
Ukai, Takahiro
Ochiai, Kohei
Iwaoka, Nobuyuki
Hashimoto, Atsushi
Okuno, Yoshishige
author_facet Tsuyama, Tomoyuki
Oyama, Tatsuki
Azuma, Yu
Ohashi, Haruhisa
Irie, Masahiro
Yamakawa, Ayumi
Uetake, Shoko
Konno, Takayuki
Ukai, Takahiro
Ochiai, Kohei
Iwaoka, Nobuyuki
Hashimoto, Atsushi
Okuno, Yoshishige
contents We report the effects of reducing surface asperity size at the nanometer scale on metallic surfaces by plasma-assisted surface modification processes using simulations and experiments. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted by irradiating various inert gas ions (Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) onto a cobalt slab with nanoscale asperities on the surface. The MD simulations showed that as the atomic number of the inert gas increased the surface asperity size was reduced more efficiently, while the etching rate decreased. The dependencies of the scattering behaviors on the inert gas ions originated from the mass exchange between the working gas ions and the slab atoms. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray fluorescence measurements were performed on hard disk media subjected to the surface modification processes. These measurements experimentally demonstrated that the density of nanoscale asperities was reduced with a lower etching rate as the atomic number of the inert gas increased, consistent with the simulation results. Through this study, we clarified that heavier working gases were more effective in reducing surface asperity size without significantly reducing the thickness of the material, which can contribute to better control of surface morphologies at the nanometer scale.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_09031
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Eliminating nanometer-scale asperities on metallic thin films through plasma modification processes studied by molecular dynamics and AFM
Tsuyama, Tomoyuki
Oyama, Tatsuki
Azuma, Yu
Ohashi, Haruhisa
Irie, Masahiro
Yamakawa, Ayumi
Uetake, Shoko
Konno, Takayuki
Ukai, Takahiro
Ochiai, Kohei
Iwaoka, Nobuyuki
Hashimoto, Atsushi
Okuno, Yoshishige
Materials Science
We report the effects of reducing surface asperity size at the nanometer scale on metallic surfaces by plasma-assisted surface modification processes using simulations and experiments. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted by irradiating various inert gas ions (Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) onto a cobalt slab with nanoscale asperities on the surface. The MD simulations showed that as the atomic number of the inert gas increased the surface asperity size was reduced more efficiently, while the etching rate decreased. The dependencies of the scattering behaviors on the inert gas ions originated from the mass exchange between the working gas ions and the slab atoms. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray fluorescence measurements were performed on hard disk media subjected to the surface modification processes. These measurements experimentally demonstrated that the density of nanoscale asperities was reduced with a lower etching rate as the atomic number of the inert gas increased, consistent with the simulation results. Through this study, we clarified that heavier working gases were more effective in reducing surface asperity size without significantly reducing the thickness of the material, which can contribute to better control of surface morphologies at the nanometer scale.
title Eliminating nanometer-scale asperities on metallic thin films through plasma modification processes studied by molecular dynamics and AFM
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.09031