Influence of the energy of the film forming particles on the properties of sculptured columnar thin films

• Applicant: Dr. René Feder
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics ; Coating and Surface Technology
• Term: from 2015 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 271203347

The overall goal of the proposed project is the generation of new knowledge concerning the understanding of the correlation between the energy of the film forming particles and the properties of sculptured columnar thin films (SCTFs) to improve their structure homogeneity. Therefore, a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the relations between the process conditions (particle flux generated by evaporation or ion beam sputtering, with and without assisting ion beam) and the properties of the grown films is necessary.Sculptured columnar thin films consist of 3D-shaped, highly coherently-oriented nanostructures. These nano-engineered surface-enhanced materials can be augmented with additional materials to obtain multifunctional properties and to offer numerous research areas and are used in chemical, biochemical and biological applications.The SCTFs are commonly produced by glancing angle deposition (GLAD), a bottom-up fabrication technique that employs physical vapor deposition processes at oblique angles. At fixed substrate position, columns with slanting angle towards the substrate normal grow. An additional rotation of the substrate during deposition allows for creation of step-wise or continuous column rotations and formation of 3D nano-architectures.Although SCTFs are used in many different applications as shown earlier in this text, further progress is currently halted because SCTFs with substantially improved structure homogeneity are needed. In detail, the roughness of the column sides needs to be reduced as well as the intercolumnar disorder and the fanning of the columns needs to be suppressed.The intended project will use the experience and knowledge gained in the work on the DFG-project. The influence of the primary ion beam parameters (ion species and energy) and the geometrical parameters (incidence and emission angle) on the properties of the film forming particles will enable a better control over the properties of the growing structures. This will directly help to improve the structural homogeneity (roughness, fanning and disorder) of the SCTFs.The Center for Nanohybrid Functional Materials (CNFM) at the university of Nebraska-Lincoln offers a unique experimental setup, the iGLAD tool, which gives the possibility to produce SCTFs by GLAD using evaporation and/or ion beam sputter deposition and additional ion beam assisted deposition under identical conditions in one deposition chamber. Therefore, a reasonable comparison of the different growth methods is possible. Also, the faculty members of the CNFM, especially Prof. M. Schubert and Prof. E. Schubert, have extensive experience in deposition, characterization and application of SCTFs produced with GLAD.The proposed project gives the applicant the possibility to apply his comprehensive knowledge of ion beam sputter deposition in a perfectly fitting research area with numerous future application possibilities.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Mathias Schubert