Nanostructured Ti thin films by magnetron sputtering at oblique angles

The growth of Ti thin films by the magnetron sputtering technique at oblique angles and at room temperature is analysed from both experimental and theoretical points of view. Unlike other materials deposited in similar conditions, the nanostructure development of the Ti layers exhibits an anomalous...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. D, Applied physics Applied physics, 2016-02, Vol.49 (4), p.45303-45312
Main Authors: Alvarez, R, Garcia-Martin, J M, Garcia-Valenzuela, A, Macias-Montero, M, Ferrer, F J, Santiso, J, Rico, V, Cotrino, J, Gonzalez-Elipe, A R, Palmero, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angle of incidence
Columnar breakdown
Deposition
dragging mechanism
GLAD
Incidence
Kinetic energy
Magnetron sputtering
magnetron sputtering at oblique angles
Monte Carlo simulation
Nanostructure
nanostructured thin films
OAD
Thin films
Titanium
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Summary:The growth of Ti thin films by the magnetron sputtering technique at oblique angles and at room temperature is analysed from both experimental and theoretical points of view. Unlike other materials deposited in similar conditions, the nanostructure development of the Ti layers exhibits an anomalous behaviour when varying both the angle of incidence of the deposition flux and the deposition pressure. At low pressures, a sharp transition from compact to isolated, vertically aligned, nanocolumns is obtained when the angle of incidence surpasses a critical threshold. Remarkably, this transition also occurs when solely increasing the deposition pressure under certain conditions. By the characterization of the Ti layers, the realization of fundamental experiments and the use of a simple growth model, we demonstrate that surface mobilization processes associated to a highly directed momentum distribution and the relatively high kinetic energy of sputtered atoms are responsible for this behaviour.
ISSN:0022-3727
1361-6463
DOI:10.1088/0022-3727/49/4/045303