Nucleation and Growth of Thin Films

Venables, J. A.; Spiller, G. D. T.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-4343-1_16

Cited by 59 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…However, the value of 50 kJ mol ±1 proposed for E ads is certainly underestimated, as it concerns an atomically smooth surface. On a surface under growth conditions that are far from the Frank±van der Merwe mode, [27] as will be shown in the next section, kinks and steps are more abundant and the nickelocene molecule can form two or more bonds with the surface, leading to an adsorption energy approximately two or more times higher.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

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MOCVD-Processed Ni Films from Nickelocene. Part I: Growth Rate and Morphology

Brissonneau

Vahlas

1999

Chem. Vap. Deposition

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An experimental investigation of the relation between operating conditions and growth rate and morphology is presented for nickel films processed from nickelocene by MOCVD. It is shown that growth rates up to 1 mm h ±1 can be obtained under the investigated conditions. Deposits present a nodular morphology, the nodules being composed of small (~20 nm) crystallites. Deposition is favored at temperatures between 160 C and 180 C, and at pressures higher than 100 torr, with a high hydrogen partial pressure. This parametric window is delimited by the decrease of the dissociative adsorption of hydrogen on the surface and by the increase of the desorption of nickelocene.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…As is seen from the micrograph in Figure 1, films exhibit a nodular morphology corresponding to a Volmer± Weber growth mode. [27] This mode is due to a low chemical affinity between substrate and deposit and generally induces low nucleation rates. A typical example is the deposition of a metal on an insulator.…”

Section: Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

MOCVD-Processed Ni Films from Nickelocene. Part I: Growth Rate and Morphology

Brissonneau

Vahlas

1999

Chem. Vap. Deposition

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“…It is interesting to note therefore that the way in which the morphology of metals evaporated onto surfaces evolves (e.g. islands or layers: see Venables and Spiller 1983) depends on the substrate in a way which correlates with and so could perhaps be associated with image terms. Cases where there are no likely image terms form layers (e.g.…”

Section: U ( Z ) = ( Q * /~Z E ' ) ( E ' -And")/(e' + E")mentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal-non-metal and other interfaces: the role of image interactions

Stoneham

Tasker

1985

J. Phys. C: Solid State Phys.

132

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Abstract. We argue that many phenomena associated with metal/non-metal interfaces and similar situations with a large dielectric constant mismatch can be understood in terms of the image interactions due to charges in the nonmetal. The effects are additional to the traditional interactions, and are especially significant when no reactions between the phases occur. The image-charge concept allows us to rationalise much apparently unrelated information concerning: (a) the systematics of wetting and non-wetting of oxides by liquid metals; ( b ) the systematics of strong metal-support interaction in catalysis; (c) the spatial variation of stoichiometry in oxides grown on metals; (d) the dependence on thickness of the observed changes in the wetting by water of oxide grown on silicon; (e) some features of radiationenhanced adhesion; and U, a number of correlations of behaviour with non-metal properties in which the precise choice of metal is not critical.The idea of an image charge is long established. If there is a planar boundary dividing space into two regions of different dielectric constant E ' , E" (e.g. metal/non-metal, vacuum/solid, liquid/solid) then the polarisation energy of any charge will be affected by the existence of the boundary. In a simple case, the effect on a charge in region I can be represented by imagining region I extended to fill all space, but including interaction with an image charge whose magnitude depends on both the actual magnitudes of the dielectric constants ( E ' in I, E" in 11) and whose position is the mirror image of the charge, regarding the boundary as a reflecting plane (Smythe 1939, Landau andLifshitz 1960). Thus, at distance z from the boundary, a charge Q causes an image term U ( Z ) = ( Q * /~z E ' ) ( E ' -&")/(E' + E")thus lowering the energy near a metal (Ell infinite (Landau and Lifshitz 1960, p 40)) and increasing the energy near a vacuum (E" unity). This simple expression does not cover all cases we shall need, though the other cases can be obtained by standard means (see Smythe 1939). Nevertheless, the equation and its generalisations have been applied widely in situations as varied as electron motion near interfaces, electron-phonon coupling in inelastic tunnelling, and many instances of classical electrostatics. Our application is different, and appears to be far reaching in a wide range of interface behaviour. We note that the change in polarisation energy due to the boundary (which we may call loosely the image energy) affects the interfacial energy too, i.e. the energy needed to cleave the two dielectrics at the boundary depends on charges present near the interface. This simple feature allows us to rationalise a large number of observations. A full comparison will be given in later papers; for the moment we give an overview.

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“…For the case of metal film formation there is a well-developed framework of understanding for the processes of thin film growth. These are island nucleation, island growth, island coalescence, the formation of channels between islands, channel filling by secondary nucleation and the achievement of complete coverage of a substrate [4][5][6][7]. Details of the atomistic processes operating at each stage have been determined at length by deductive interpretation of the phenomenology, and good examples are to be found in the work of Barna [8][9][10][11] these beingfor the deposition of Al films as observed by in-situ TEM and by micromorphological studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nucleation and early stage growth of CdTe thin films deposited by close space sublimation

Major

Durose

2009

2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

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The early stage growth mechanisms of sublimation-grown thin-film polycrystalline CdTe are evaluated by growth interrupts and ex-situ AFM for growth under 100 torr of inert gas. Development of island size, density and coverage demonstrates that growth proceeds via the process of island nucleation, island growth and density increase, followed by coalescence, channel formation and secondary nucleation. Addition of material to the islands occurs partly by the 'step-flow' mechanism. Application of the nucleation model to influence the growth of solar cell quality CdTe layers is demonstrated by the use of elevated gas pressures to increase grain size. The enhanced grain size is attributed to a reduction in nucleation density arising from a decrease in surface concentration of the deposited species.

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Nucleation and Growth of Thin Films

Cited by 59 publications

References 94 publications

MOCVD-Processed Ni Films from Nickelocene. Part I: Growth Rate and Morphology

MOCVD-Processed Ni Films from Nickelocene. Part I: Growth Rate and Morphology

Metal-non-metal and other interfaces: the role of image interactions

Nucleation and early stage growth of CdTe thin films deposited by close space sublimation

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