Investigation of texture development on MgO films prepared by inclined substrate deposition with electron-beam evaporation

Abstract

Texture development of MgO films prepared by the electron-beam evaporation process using the so-called inclined substrate deposition technique was investigated. Thickness dependence on the degree of texturing showed that the in-plane alignment was developed faster with increase of the inclination angle, which was correlated with MgO(1 0 0) tilt angles. The mechanism of the in-plane alignment of the MgO films was discussed considering a directional flow of adatoms on the growing (1 0 0) surface of MgO, in-plane growth rate anisotropy, and three-dimensional overgrowth. A growth model for in-plane alignment was proposed, which is based on Schweobel effect, two-dimensional nucleation growth, and geometric configuration. The model could explain the experimental results at least qualitatively.