The authors study the morphological evolution of magnetron-sputtered thin silver (Ag) films that are deposited on weakly interacting silicon dioxide (SiO₂) substrates in an oxygen-containing (O₂) gas atmosphere. In situ and real-time monitoring of electrically conductive layers, along with ex situ microstructural analyses, shows that the presence of O₂, throughout all film-formation stages, leads to a more pronounced two-dimensional (2D) morphology, smoother film surfaces, and larger continuous-layer electrical resistivities, as compared to Ag films grown in pure argon (Ar) ambient. In addition, the authors’ data demonstrate that 2D morphology can be promoted, without compromising the Ag-layer electrical conductivity, if O₂ is deployed with high temporal precision to target film formation stages before the formation of a percolated layer. Detailed real-space imaging of discontinuous films, augmented by in situ growth monitoring data, suggests that O₂ favors 2D morphology by affecting the kinetics of initial film-formation stages and most notably by decreasing the rate of island coalescence completion. Furthermore, compositional and bonding analyses show that O₂ does not change the chemical nature of the Ag layers and no atomic oxygen is detected in the films, i.e., O₂ acts as a surfactant. The overall results of this study are relevant for developing noninvasive surfactant-based strategies for manipulating noble-metal-layer growth on technologically relevant weakly interacting substrates, including graphene and other 2D crystals.

中文翻译：

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使用氧气作为表面活性剂在弱相互作用的二氧化硅基材上处理薄的银膜生长

作者研究了磁控溅射薄银（Ag）薄膜的形态演变，该薄膜沉积在含氧（O ₂）气体气氛中的弱相互作用二氧化硅（SiO ₂）衬底上。导电层的原位和实时监控以及异位微结构分析表明，O ₂的存在与在纯氩（Ar）环境中生长的Ag膜相比，在所有膜形成阶段中，其导致更显着的二维（2D）形态，更平滑的膜表面和更大的连续层电阻率。此外，作者的数据表明，如果在渗滤层形成之前以较高的时间精度将O ₂部署到目标成膜阶段，则可以促进2D形态，而不会损害Ag层的导电性。不连续薄膜的详细真实空间成像，加上原位生长监测数据，表明O ₂通过影响初始成膜阶段的动力学，尤其是降低岛聚结完成的速率，从而有利于二维形态。此外，组成和键合分析表明O ₂不会改变Ag层的化学性质，并且在膜中未检测到原子氧，即，O ₂充当表面活性剂。这项研究的总体结果与开发基于非侵入性表面活性剂的策略有关，该策略用于在技术相关的弱相互作用衬底（包括石墨烯和其他2D晶体）上操纵贵金属层的生长。