Geometry of thin-film morphology

The columnar morphologies commonly found in all vapor-deposited thin films prepared under low mobility conditions have been classified by several variations of what have been termed structure zone models. Such morphological structures are found to have a strong similarity in shape and form over six...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 1985-01, Vol.58 (10), p.3739-3746
Main Authors: MESSIER, R, YEHODA, J. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Exact sciences and technology
Physics
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
Thin film structure and morphology
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Summary:The columnar morphologies commonly found in all vapor-deposited thin films prepared under low mobility conditions have been classified by several variations of what have been termed structure zone models. Such morphological structures are found to have a strong similarity in shape and form over six orders of magnitude in film thickness and three orders of magnitude in magnification for films of a given thickness. Thick (45-mm) pyrolytic graphite films are shown to be a good demonstration of the continuous growth evolution of conical-shaped units. Due to competition for growth each cone eventually goes through a death stage. A model based upon these general structural observations is presented and is shown to be a geometric construction similar to a Sierpinski gasket. The origin of this morphology seems to be the natural clustering which occurs due to the random process of ballistic aggregation.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.335639