Characterization of ternary ZrHfN thin films deposited by closed-field dual-cathode DC unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering: A preliminary investigation on their reusable SERS with high thermal stability
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Author list: Phae-ngam W.; Prathumsit J.; Chaikeeree T.; Bodinthitikul N.; Lertvanithphol T.; Nakajima H.; Jutarosaga T.; Horprathum M.; Mungchamnankit A.
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Materials Research Bulletin (0025-5408)
Volume number: 185
ISSN: 0025-5408
eISSN: 1873-4227
Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)
Abstract
The zirconium hafnium nitride thin films as alternative plasmonic sensing for surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate (SERS) were fabricated by closed-field dual-cathode DC unbalanced magnetron sputtering within a thickness range of 30–70 nm. The influence of film thickness on morphology and structural was investigated by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The GIXRD results indicated that all the prepared ZrHfN thin films exhibited face-centered cubic structures. Surface-sensitive methods like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) were employed to understand the chemical composition and the distribution of nitrogen atoms. Furthermore, the SERS performance of the ZrHfN films was evaluated using Rhodamine 6 G (R6 G) as a probe molecule. It was found that the 70-nm ZrHfN thin film demonstrated a SERS enhancement factor of 5.4 × 105 and high reusability (15 cycles). Additionally, our SERS substrates exhibited high thermal stability, which maintains sensitivity after heat treatment at 250 οC for 10 min in air ambient. These results highlight the potential of the ZrHfN thin film as an alternative SERS sensor chip for real-world applications. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd
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