Statistical characterization of thermally evaporated rough CaF2 films

Thermal deposition of CaF2 onto a glass substrate creates a nanoscale rough surface. A series of samples with differing nominal CaF2 film thicknesses have been fabricated, and the topography has been investigated using atomic force microscopy. Measured values for the statistical characterization of the samples are presented including the exponents describing the scaling behavior of the surfaces. We find that the roughness exponent alpha=0.88+/-0.03 , the growth exponent beta=0.75+/-0.03 , and the dynamical exponent z=alpha/beta=1.17+/-0.06 . We also measure the multifractal spectra and nearest neighbor height difference probability distribution. The results are consistent with noise dominated by a power-law distribution with exponent mu+1 approximately equal to 4.6. Profilometer measurements were used to determine the porosity phi of the deposited films, which we find to be constant for all film thicknesses with phi approximately 0.46 .