1 Growth kinetics of nanometric dendrites in metal-carbon thin films C. Corbella a,* , B. Echebarría b , L. Ramírez-Piscina b , E. Pascual a , J.L. Andújar a , E. Bertran a a FEMAN Research Group, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franquès 1, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain b Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Doctor Marañón 44, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain Keywords: Dendritic growth; Nanostructure; Phase field modelling; Nanodendrites. Abstract Tungsten-carbon films deposited by pulsed-DC reactive magnetron sputtering show the formation of a dendritic structure at the nanometric scale. The structure is formed by a combination of a polycrystalline β–W phase together with a non-stoichiometric WC 1-x phase. The nanodendrites coincide with W-rich zones, whereas C-rich regions are located at the interstices. The characteristics of this nanostructure have been modulated by varying the metal concentration of the films. Composition, structure and morphology were characterized by X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Electron Probe Micro- Analysis, Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and Atomic Force Microscopy, whereas mechanical and tribological properties were evaluated by profilometry, nanoindentation and microscratch. The observed growth pattern is interpreted as the result of nucleation and growth of a W phase into a W-C amorphous * Text only