J.M. García-Martín, R. Alvarez, P. Romero-Gómez, A. Cebollada, A. Palmero
Applied Physics Letters, 97 (2010) 173103 (3)
doi: 10.1063/1.3506502

We show that the tilt angle of nanostructures obtained by glancing angle sputtering is finely tuned by selecting the adequate argon pressure. At low pressures, a ballisticdeposition regime dominates, yielding high directional atoms that form tilted nanocolumns. High pressures lead to a diffusive regime which gives rise to vertical columnar growth. Monte Carlo simulations reproduce the experimental results indicating that the loss of directionality of the sputtered particles in the gas phase, together with the self-shadowing mechanism at the surface, are the main processes responsible for the development of the columns.