Enabling Free Growth of Thin Films by Magnetron Sputtering for Blooming Microstructures
Abstract Magnetron sputtering is a versatile and scalable technique that enables the precise tuning of key properties, including crystalline phase, stoichiometry, and phase ratios. Despite its widespread use in producing dense non‐porous coatings on flat substrates, its potential for developing porous electroactive materials remains underexplored. Here the use of rough substrates, such as carbon nanotubes and nanosheets, revealing a dramatic change in the growth mechanism of this model systems, nickel nitride, and chromium nitride is investigated. The nanometric roughness of these carbon nanomaterials leads to distinct effects, including strong shadowing of deposited species and non‐competitive growth. This results in enhanced porous thin films with open microstructures and high available surface areas. It is then apply the experimental findings, confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations, to other thin films to demonstrate this approach extends to multiple nanorough substrate/thin film systems, thereby paving the way for designing new materials with enhanced energy conversion and storage performance.
Authors
- Sylvie Migot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3803-9931)
- Brigitte Vigolo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1463-0121)
- Umair Aftab
- Sorin Vizireanu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9165-0962)
- Aurélien Besnard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8070-7000)
- Gheorghe Dinescu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2179-1609)
- J.F. Pierson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8790-3162)
- Amine Achour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0343-5360)
- Zafar Hussain Ibupoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6756-9862)
- Mauricio Pavía (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2776-126X)
- Camille Douard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3215-3007)
- Mélanie Emo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3599-6824)
- D. Pilloud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0662-6173)
- Jérôme Müller
- Stéphane Lucas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3229-9855)
- Noé Watiez
- Thierry Brousse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1715-0377)
- Émile Haye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9162-561X)
- Aneela Tahira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6777-5642)
- Jaâfar Ghanbaja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2870-0570)
- A.C. García-Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5778-0736)
- Pavel Moskovkin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4911-8566)
- Abdul Rahman Mohamed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5418-5456)
- Salah‐Eddine Benrazzouq (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3351-0712)
Institutions
- University of Sindh (PK)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Universiti Sains Malaysia (MY)
- University of Namur (BE)
- Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (PK)
- Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (FR)
- Réseau sur le Stockage Electrochimique de l'énergie (FR)
- Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (FR)
- Laboratoire Bourguignon des Matériaux et Procédés (FR)
- National Institute for Laser Plasma and Radiation Physics (RO)
- Advanced Coatings (Belgium) (BE)
- Institut Jean Lamour (FR)
- Université Marie et Louis Pasteur (FR)
- Shah Abdul Latif University (PK)
- Université de Lorraine (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2025-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202522071
- Primary Topic
- Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00