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

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 inplane alignment was developed faster with increase of the inclination angle, which was correlated with MgO(100) tilt angles. The mechanism of the in-plane alignment of the MgO films was discussed considering a directional flow of adatoms on the growing (100) 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. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.