Three-dimensional graphoepitaxial alignment resulting from solid-state dewetting of Au films on surfaces with monoperiodic topography

Polycrystalline gold films were deposited and annealed on oxidized silicon with flat surfaces and surfaces modified to have saw-tooth surface topography. Annealing led to solid-sate dewetting to form discrete islands. As-deposited films on flat surfaces had a strong (111) texture that became still stronger during dewetting. Films deposited on saw-tooth structures had a weak (100) texture with a weak [110] in-plane alignment along the grooves. This in-plane alignment became much more uniform during dewetting. It is proposed that graphoepitaxial alignment observed in both the as-deposited and annealed films on saw-tooth structures is the result of surface-energy-driven grain growth. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4740277]