Structure formation mechanisms of low-dimensional porous titanium systems condensed under quasi-equilibrium steady-state conditions
Abstract In the present study porous titanium condensates have been deposited by means of ion-plasma sputtering under the quasi-equilibrium conditions and their structure formation mechanisms have been investigated. At the beginning, we introduce to the low-dimensional porous system formation mechanisms, which are based on both the different rate growth of condensate surface local parts and partial coalescence of structural elements. Then we consider the quasi-equilibrium steady-state condensation peculiarities within the accumulative plasma-condensate system and discuss the formation mechanisms of titanium condensates produced on glass and cleaved KCl substrates. The condensate structure has been investigated by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy. It has been shown that the self-assembly of the porous Ti layers is due to the following key processes: the self-organization of time-constant extremely low supersaturation and the continuous structural and morphological transformation of the growth surface as well.