Growth dynamics of nanocolumnar thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering at oblique angles

The morphology of numerous nanocolumnar thin films deposited by the magnetron sputtering technique at oblique geometries and at relatively low temperatures has been analyzed for materials as different as Au, Pt, Ti, Cr, TiO, Al, HfN, Mo, V, WO and W. Despite similar deposition conditions, two charac...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Álvarez, Rafael, García-Valenzuela, Aurelio, Regodón, Guillermo, Ferrer, F. J., Rico, Víctor J., García-Martín, José Miguel, González-Elipe, Agustín R., Palmero, Alberto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/342481
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/342481
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Magnetron sputtering
Oblique angle deposition
Nanocolumns
Hyperthermal processes
Descripción
Sumario:The morphology of numerous nanocolumnar thin films deposited by the magnetron sputtering technique at oblique geometries and at relatively low temperatures has been analyzed for materials as different as Au, Pt, Ti, Cr, TiO, Al, HfN, Mo, V, WO and W. Despite similar deposition conditions, two characteristic nanostructures have been identified depending on the material: a first one defined by highly tilted and symmetric nanocolumnar structures with a relatively high film density, and a second one characterized by rather vertical and asymmetric nanocolumns, with a much lower film density. With the help of a model, the two characteristic nanostructures have been linked to different growth dynamics and, specifically, to different surface relaxation mechanisms upon the incorporation of gaseous species with kinetic energies above the surface binding energy. Moreover, in the case of Ti, a smooth structural transition between the two types of growths has been found when varying the value of the power used to maintain the plasma discharge. Based on these results, the existence of different surface relaxation mechanisms is proposed, which quantitatively explains numerous experimental results under the same conceptual framework.