Study of surface morphology of ferrofluid deposited etched ion tracks in dielectric layers

An AFM study is reported on swift heavy irradiated Si/SiO₂ substrates which have been etched by aqueous hydrofluoric acid solution leading to ion tracks in which ferrofluids have been deposited leading to tunable electronic materials with pores in oxide on silicon (TEMPOS) structure. Two ferrofluids with different carrier fluids (aqueous and non-aqueous) have been deposited in the tracks. Atomic force microscopy has been used to study the empty as well as filled tracks. Since the ferrofluids contain iron oxide particles, there is a possibility of agglomeration of these particles inside and outside the tracks. Surface area and pore volume of the tracks have been measured by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The track properties (empty and filled) as observed by AFM have been correlated with BET measurements.