Growth of ultrathin metal films

Driven by the requirement to tailor film properties for many technological applications, our understanding of the atomic processes involved in thin-film growth and the principles governing those processes has progressed tremendously in the last century. Growth of thin films has changed from an art to a science. For ultrathin metal films, the growth conditions are found to have important and sometimes crucial consequences for the structural and magnetic properties of the film. Therefore, manipulating the film growth by detailed control of the growth conditions is an effective pathway to exploring the ultimate potential of ultrathin magnetic films. In this chapter, the various growth modes are first introduced and described from the viewpoints of thermodynamics and kinetics. The growth parameters, such as growth temperature, growth rate and application of a surfactant, are discussed at some length as possible tools to modify the growth and thus the film properties. Experimental techniques for the analysis of the growth mode are described, with an emphasis on reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED).