The formation of the porous structure in dc magnetron sputtered amorphous silicon thin films at low temperatures is studied when using helium and/or argon as the processing gas. In each case, a-Si thin films were simultaneously grown at two different locations in the reactor which led to the assembly of different porous structures. The set of four fabricated samples has been analyzed at the microstructural level to elucidate the characteristics of the porous structure under the different deposition conditions. With the help of a growth model, we conclude that the chemical nature of the sputter gas not only affects the sputtering mechanism of Si atoms from the target and their subsequent transport in the gaseous/plasma phase towards the film, but also the pore formation mechanism and dynamics. When Ar is used, pores emerge as a direct result of the shadowing processes of Si atoms, in agreement with Thornton's structure zone model. The introduction of He produces, in addition to the shadowing effects, a new process where a degree of mobility results in the coarsening of small pores. Our results also highlight the influence of the composition of sputtering gas and tilt angles (for oblique angle deposition) on the formation of open and/or occluded porosity.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 December 2017.
All research outputs
#9,184,966
of 31,634,113 outputs
Outputs from Nanotechnology
#2,128
of 7,053 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#72,234
of 260,446 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nanotechnology
#40
of 70 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 31,634,113 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 70th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,053 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.6. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 260,446 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 70 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
