Ion-beam sputtering deposition of CsI thin films

Stoichiometric CsI thin films were deposited by Ar ion-beam sputtering of a CsI target at room temperature. The sputtered 100-nm thick CsI films obtained were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and quantum efficiency (QE) measurements. As it was expected, the chemical, morphological, crystalline and photo-emissive properties of CsI films obtained depended on the deposition parameters. Comparison with results obtained for evaporated CsI films indicated that surface morphology, i.e., the effective photo-emissive surface area, is one of the important parameters in influencing the QE