Tuning growth from clusters to continuous ultrathin films: Experiments and molecular dynamics simulations of Pd plasma sputter deposition

Plasma sputter deposition experiments and simple molecular dynamics calculations are performed for highlighting the effects of plasma ions and kinetic energy of palladium atoms on the morphology of thin films. A transition between cluster and continuous film growth is observed. It is attributed to the kinetic energy of the depositing sputtered palladium atoms and to high binding energy trapping sites resulting from the effects of ions incident on the surface during deposition. These high binding energy trapping sites act as additional nucleation centres that are allowed to be visited by the diffusing Pd atoms.