Morphology enhancement of SiO2 aerogel films grown on Si substrate using dense SiO2 buffer layer.

Porous SiO₂ film has been widely studied due to its extensive applications in many fields. This paper presents a newly produced porous SiO₂ film made by traditional sol–gel method. Bare Si and Si with SiO₂ buffer layer were used as substrate. The SiO₂ buffer layer was 500 nm in thickness and was grown by thermal oxidization. The structural properties of SiO₂ aerogel films spin-coated on both materials were observed by optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results reveal that the surface of SiO₂ aerogel films on bare Si is rough and discontinuous. While flat and smooth surface is observed on sample with SiO₂ buffer layer. This indicates that by inserting SiO₂ buffer layer, the structural property of SiO₂ aerogel film deposited on Si is improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]