The morphology and texture of Cu nanorod films grown by controlling the directional fluxin physical vapor deposition

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We report the creation of unusual biaxial textures in Cu nanorod films,through the control of the incident vapor flux during oblique angle deposition.High-density twin boundaries were formed using a periodic azimuthal swingrotation of the substrate while the incident angle of the Cu flux was fixed at85° with respect to the surface normal. In contrast, depositions on stationary substratesresulted in nanorod films with a much lower density of twinned crystals. From transmissionelectron microscopy and x-ray pole figure analysis, the nanorod axis was shown to coincideapproximately with the crystallographic directions. We also observed the branching of these nanostructures into‘nanotrees’. This branching was attributed to the creation of edge dislocations during thedeposition and was particularly prevalent for the case of swing rotation. The mechanismsfor the development of texture, twinning, and branching in these nanostructures arediscussed.