Growth of Nb thin ®lms on SiO2

Nb thin ®lms have been prepared by electron beam evaporation under ultrahigh vacuum conditions on fused silica substrates at various temperatures, and their structural and morphological evolutions have been investigated using X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The crystallographic texture of the Nb ®lms is found to depend on the growth temperature. At room temperature, the [1 1 0] texture is dominant. However, at 2008C, the [3 1 0] oriented growth is favored, co-existing with [1 1 0] and [2 0 0] oriented grains. At 400±6008C, a completely [1 1 0] textured ®lm is formed. At even higher temperature (8008C), a complex texture of [1 1 0] (dominant), [2 0 0] and [3 1 0] is observed again. It is also found that the single [1 1 0] textured Nb ®lms have smooth surfaces, and the complex textured Nb ®lms have rough surfaces. # 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.