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4244391 
Journal Article 
Impact of oxygen and argon plasma exposure on the roughness of gold film surfaces 
Berman, D; Krim, J 
2012 
1 
Thin Solid Films
ISSN: 0040-6090
EISSN: 1879-2731 
520 
19 
6201-6206 
WOS:000306104900027 
The impact of oxygen and argon plasma exposure on the roughness of gold film Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) electrodes is reported here, employing low levels of gas uptake and scanning tunneling microscope measurements to probe the post-exposure surface morphology. For equal exposure times, argon plasma bombardment is observed to produce both greater material removal and greater change in surface roughness. A possible explanation for this is that the oxygen plasma produces a protective gold oxide layer, which may remove the contaminants from the surface without creating defects in the gold surface. The result is also consistent with prior reports of chemical cleaning of the surface by reactive oxygen ions. Pentane gas adsorption on the argon bombarded QCM surfaces was, moreover, observed to occur at pressures that are several orders of magnitude lower than that for an unbombarded surface. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved. 
Quartz Crystal Microbalance; Roughness; Adsorption isotherm; Plasma cleaning