Tilting of carbon encapsulated metallic nanocolumns in carbon-nickel nanocomposite films by ion beam assisted deposition

The influence of assisting low-energy (∼50-100 eV) ion irradiation effects on the morphology of C:Ni (∼15 at. %) nanocomposite films during ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) is investigated. It is shown that IBAD promotes the columnar growth of carbon encapsulated metallic nanoparticles. The momentum transfer from assisting ions results in tilting of the columns in relation to the growing film surface. Complex secondary structures are obtained, in which a significant part of the columns grows under local epitaxy via the junction of sequentially deposited thin film fractions. The influence of such anisotropic film morphology on the optical properties is highlighted.