Role of substrate on topography features of nickel deposited nanostructures

We report on the role of scan rate (s) on the nano-scaled topography of Ni electrodeposits, respectively, formed on Au, Cu and ITO substrates by cyclic voltammetry (C-V). In the investigated region 0.17 ≤ s ≤ 1.67 mV/s Ni deposits expand in the face-centred-cubic phase regardless of the substrate while textural aspects are mainly affected. [1 1 1] growth orientation prevails with Au and ITO, Cu favouring the [2 2 0] growth direction. Almost the same columnar grains are obtained in every case but Au engenders the bigger grains. The topography study shows that the saturation roughness (σsat) and the correlation length (Lc) are both affected by the scan rate and the substrate nature. The film's topography factor k = (σsat)/(Lc) exhibits in every case a maximum value at the lowest scan rate region. It decreases towards a plateau with the increase of s. k is almost three-fold higher on Au than on Cu and ITO. The specific Au/Ni interface properties and the particular textural agreement of the common [1 1 1] growth direction in both materials are assumed to be the origin of this result.