Magnesium Sublimation for Growing Thin Films and Conformal Coatings on 1D Nanostructures

A method to conformally coat silica nanosprings with magnesium via sublimation at 450oC has been developed. In addition, Mg thin films were grown on Si(100) using this method to determine the effects of substrate morphology (nanoscale curvatures vs. planar) on the interfacial morphology of the Mg coating. High-resolution/powder X-ray diffraction (HRXRD/PXRD) on both the Mg-coated NS and the thin film revealed the presence of Mgand MgO due to exposure of the samples to air. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the presence of Mg on the nanosprings. Elemental mapping with TEM-EDS verified that Mg uniformity and conformally coats the nanosprings. Nanocrystallinity of the Mg coating on the nanosprings was determined to be polycrystalline by TEM and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). In contrast, the process produces large micron-scale crystals on planar surfaces.