Deposition and Measurement of Nanoscale Complex Hydrocarbon Films on Magnetic Hard Disk Surfaces

Measurement of complex hydrocarbon film thickness on engineering surfaces such as magnetic hard disks is difficult if the film thickness is below the peak to valley distance of the surface roughness. Instrument sensitivity and detection accuracy for most of the common tools for this purpose is limited. We have developed a novel calibration technique that allows accurate measurement of such films within 5%–10% accuracy.