Thin film nanostructuring at oblique angles by substrate patterning

It is demonstrated that, besides classical nanocolumnar arrays, the oblique angle geometry induces the growth of singular structures in the nanoscale when using wisely designed patterned substrates. Well-ordered array of crosses, cylindrical nanorods or hole structures arranged in square or hexagona...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Muñoz-Piña, Sandra, Alcaide, Antonio M., Limones-Ahijón, Blanca, Oliva-Ramírez, Manuel, Rico, Víctor J., Alcalá, Germán, González Sagardoy, María Ujué, García-Martín, José Miguel, Álvarez, Rafael, Wang, Dong, Schaaf, Peter, González-Elipe, Agustín R., Palmero, Alberto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/265184
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/265184
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Magnetron sputtering
Nanostructured thin films
Substrate patterning
Oblique angle deposition
Porous thin films
Descripción
Sumario:It is demonstrated that, besides classical nanocolumnar arrays, the oblique angle geometry induces the growth of singular structures in the nanoscale when using wisely designed patterned substrates. Well-ordered array of crosses, cylindrical nanorods or hole structures arranged in square or hexagonal regular geometries are reported as examples, among others. The fundamental framework connecting substrate topography and film growth at oblique angles is presented, allowing the use of substrate patterning as a feasible thin film nanostructuring technique. A systematic analysis of the growth of TiO2 thin films on 4 different lithographic patterned substrates in 4 different scale lengths is also presented. A first conclusion is the existence of a height-based selective growth in the initial stages of the deposition, by which the film preferentially develops on top of the tallest substrate features. This behavior is maintained until the film reaches a critical thickness, the so-called Oblivion Thickness, above which the film topography becomes gradually independent of the substrate features. A general formula relating the spatial features of the pattern, the coarsening exponent and the Oblivion Thickness has been deduced.