Effects of adhesion layer on Ag nanorod growth mode and morphology using glancing angle physical vapor deposition

This letter reports on the transition from a non-wetting to an effectively wetting growth mode of silver (Ag) nanorods when an adhesion layer is used during glancing angle physical vapor deposition growth. When deposited onto a silicon substrate without an adhesion layer, Ag nanorods grow from partially interconnected non-wetting islands with diameters of ∼100 nm, although many connect with their neighbors due to small rod-to-rod spacing. When a 1 nm thick Cr adhesion layer is used, which is shown not to completely coat the substrate, the growth mode becomes effectively wetting through the coalescence of closely spaced nuclei, and both Ag nanorod diameter and spacing increase. Alternatively, when a thicker 10 nm Cr adhesion layer is used, the growth mode becomes mixed, as both small effective wetting regions and film gaps exist. For the cases of no adhesion layer and 1 nm Cr adhesion layer, the nanorods are oriented at ∼23° from the substrate but lay down onto the substrate when a 10 nm thick Cr adhesion layer is used. Thin film adhesion tests demonstrate that both 1 nm and 10 nm Cr adhesion layers offer an enhanced performance over no adhesion layer or a glancing angle adhesion layer.