The study effect of thickness and deposition rate on structural properties of aluminum thin films prepared by thermal evaporation technique

In this study, PEDOT:PSS, Alq3 and Al thin films were deposited on the ITO substrate, respectively. The of aluminum thin films with different thicknesses and deposition rates were deposited on Alq3 film by thermal evaporation technique. The structure of the films by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and their morphology by field effect scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were studied. X-ray diffraction characterization showed that the films prepared with a thickness less than 100 nm and with a deposition rate less than 1 nm/s have a polycrystalline structure with a peak along the (111) plane. The FESEM images show the grain structure of the samples. Increasing deposition rate leads to the increase of clusters on the surface of film that resulting an increase in the size of the grains. The AFM images show that increasing the thickness and deposition rate of film cause to increase the surface roughness of film.