Surface topology of CdO thin oxide films formed on van der waals surfaces of InSe and GaSe layered crystals

Abstract

Thin films of CdO were fabricated by dc reactive magnetron sputtering onto van der Waals surfaces of InSe and GaSe layered crystals. The structure of the films was studied by X-ray diffraction method. Surface topology of the obtained films was investigated by atomic force microscopy. It was established that the surface is nanostructured, but the growth of the films differs on InSe and GaSe substrates. On InSe substrate one can observe nanoobjects in the form of separate hills and their clusters. The density of such nanoobjects is ∼2,25⋅1010 cm–2. The peculiarity of surface topology of CdO films on GaSe is that the nanoobjects are distributed uniformly and have domelike shape. There is no tendency to formation of clusters of such nanoobjects. It was estimated that the density of these nanoobjects is ∼6,4⋅109 cm–2.