A Study of the Surface Texture of Polycrystalline Phosphor Films Using AFM

Published

January 1, 1994

Author(s)

Zsolt R?vay, J Schneir, D Brower, John S. Villarrubia, Joseph Fu, et al

Abstract

Stimulable phosphor thin films are being investigated for use as optical data storage media. We have successfully applied atomic force microscopy (AFM) to the measurement of the surface texture of these films. Determination of the surface texture of the films is important for evaluating the effect of surface quality on optical scatter. In other thin film material systems it has been found that the surface bumps revealed by AFM correspond to grains in the film. This is not the case for the stimulable phosphor films used in our study. We have determined the grain size of our phosphor films by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The grain size from TEM and XRD does not correlate with the size of the AFM surface bumps. For example, in two of the five films studied, the XRD derived grain size varies by a factor of two, but the size of the surface bumps remains the same. We conclude that the texture of the film surface is not directly determined by the grain size of the phosphor material.

Volume

343

Conference Dates

January 1, 1994

Conference Location

Boston, MA, USA

Conference Title

Proceedings of Matl. Res. Soc. Symp.

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

AFM, atomic force microscopy, grain size, optical data storage, optical scatter, phosphor, surface texture, TEM, thin films, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, XRD

Citation

R?vay, Z. , Schneir, J. , Brower, D. , Villarrubia, J. , Fu, J. and al, E. (1994), A Study of the Surface Texture of Polycrystalline Phosphor Films Using AFM, Proceedings of Matl. Res. Soc. Symp., Boston, MA, USA (Accessed October 13, 2025)