Template-assisted nanostructure fabrication by glancing angle deposition: a molecular dynamics study

In the present work, we investigate the pre-existing template-assisted glancing angle deposition of Al columnar structures on Cu substrate by means of molecular dynamics simulations, with a focus on examining the effect of deposition-induced template deformation on the morphologies of the fabricated structures. Our simulations demonstrate that the pre-existing templates significantly intensify the shadowing effect, which thus facilitates the formation of columnar structures under small deposition flux. The underlying deformation modes of the templates under different deposition configurations are analyzed and are correlated to the geometrical characteristics of the columnar structures. It is found that the template height-dependent deformation behavior of the templates strongly influences the morphologies of the fabricated columnar structures. Our findings provide design and fabrication guidelines for the fabrication of one-dimensional nanostructures by the template-assisted deposition technique.