Characterization of thin gold layers on polyethyleneterephthalate: transition from discontinuous to continuous, homogenous layer

Gold layers of increasing thicknesses were prepared on a polyethyleneterephthalate substrate by sputtering. The continuity of a gold layer, as a function of the sputtering time, was examined using electron microscopy and by measuring its electrical resistance and the reflection of electromagnetic microwaves. The mean layer thickness was determined from UV-VIS spectra as well as from atomic absorption spectroscopy measurements of gold removed from a defined sample area. Layer thicknesses above 20 nm were also determined by a profilometer. These techniques enables one to characterize a transition of the gold layer from a discontinuous one, through a continuous but inhomogeneous (thickness) one to a continuous and homogenous one. Received: 2 August 2001 / Accepted: 6 September 2001 / Published online: 27 March 2002