title: Disassembling glancing angle deposited films for high-throughput, single-post growth scaling measurements.
abstract: With growing interest in nanostructured thin films produced by glancing angle deposition (GLAD), it becomes increasingly important to understand their overall growth mechanics and nanocolumn structure. We present a new method of isolating the individual nanocolumns of GLAD films, facilitating automated measurement of their broadening profiles. Data collected for α = 81° TiO2 vertical nanocolumns deposited across a range of substrate rotation rates demonstrates that these rates influence growth scaling parameters. Further, individual posts were found in each case that violate predicted Kardar-Parisi-Zhang growth scaling limits. The technique's current iteration is comparable to existing techniques in speed: though data were studied from 10,756 individual objects, the majority could not be confidently used in subsequent analysis. Further refinement may allow high-throughput automated film characterization and permit close examination of subtle growth trends, potentially enhancing control over GLAD film broadening and morphology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2V4, Canada. jsiewert@ualberta
authors.forename: Joshua Morgan Arthur
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Siewert
authors.forename: Joshua Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: LaForge
authors.forename: Michael Thomas
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Taschuk
authors.forename: Michael Julian
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Brett