An in situ method is described for studying the reactions between thin titanium films and SiO2 or Na2O · 2SiO2 glasses. It involves fracturing the glass under ultra high vacuum conditions, depositing titanium thin films on the fractured surfaces and then characterizing interface reactions using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); the whole process is carried out without interrupting the ultrahigh vacuum. Owing to the extremely clean interface formed by this method, titanium suicide forms in both glass systems, even at room temperature. However, for glass surfaces that have been chemically cleaned in air, suicide formation is suppressed because carbon species from contamination at the interface consume the titanium film. the superiority of the in situ method to investigate thin film reactions is thus established.
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