Investigation of microstructural, micromorphology, and surface plasmon resonance characteristics in Ni/Al, Ni/Cu, and Ni/SS thin films

As the first boundary between the environment and the material, the surface plays an important role in their interaction with each other, therefore, the use of appropriate tools and analysis to examine the mechanical properties and morphology of surfaces has particular importance in industry and research. In this research, a thin film of nickel was deposited on metal substrates made of aluminum, copper, and steel by using the RF magnetic cathode. Then, using a non-contact atomic force microscope, the morphological properties of the nickel film with static parameters, Minkowski functionals (MF's), fractal, and multifractal were extracted to be analyzed and studied. After that, using parameters such as root mean square (RMS) roughness, skewness, and kurtosis, it was determined how the surface roughness, distribution, and probability density of particles on the film surface alters with the change of the substrate. Next, by examining and analyzing the Delta alpha and Delta f parameters obtained from the multifractal section, the morphology of the produced film on the metal substrates was investigated. Then, the change in the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak position is changed for the prepared film in the range of the absorption spectrum due to the substrate effect and the microstructural properties of the formed film. Highlights Ni film has been deposited by Rf magnetron sputtering. The effect of metal substrates on the topography, fractality, and optical properties was studied. Minkowski functionals were used to investigate the surface morphology of the samples. Substrate's material and the topography of the formed film can changed the surface plasmon resonance position.