Deposition of gold-containing siloxane thin films

Thin films containing gold clusters dispersed in a SiOx matrix have been deposited by simultaneous plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition of hexamethyldisiloxane-O-2-Ar mixtures and r.f. sputtering of a gold target. The effect of deposition conditions on film composition and on some physical properties have been investigated. The results show that the films are mainly composed of an inorganic SiOx matrix which contains gold clusters, carbon and hydrogen atoms. By changing the gold content of the film the d.c. electrical conductivity follows the trend reported in the literature for other metal-containing plasma polymers, while the optical absorption in the UV-Vis region shows some differences from published data.