| AVS 55th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Surface Science | Thursday Sessions |
| Session SS1-ThM |
| Session: | Growth and Etching on Surfaces |
| Presenter: | P. Swaminathan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Authors: | P. Swaminathan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign J.S. Palmer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign J.H. Weaver, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
We discuss Au nanoparticle formation on Bi films under conditions where burrowing of the formed Au particles into the film is competitive to growth. Burrowing occurs because the surface free energy of Bi is lower than that of Au, the Au-Bi interface energy is small, and the kinetics, in terms of high surface and grain boundary diffusion rates, are favorable. The negligible solid solubility of Au in Bi at low temperatures means that alloy formation effects can be neglected. By changing deposition temperatures and rate, we show the effect of burrowing on the final size distribution. These results are supported by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations that include atom impingement, surface diffusion, and burrowing rates as parameters. Burrowing broadens and splits the size distribution as small particles are removed from the surface continuously and those that remain grow to larger sizes by adatom capture. These results are important for systems where nanostructures are assembled on low surface energy substrates, and they specify the conditions where growth is affected by burrowing.