Campus Units
Materials Science and Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, Ames Laboratory, Chemistry
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
7-2010
Journal or Book Title
Materials
Volume
3
Issue
7
First Page
3965
Last Page
3993
DOI
10.3390/ma3073965
Abstract
Confinement of electrons can occur in metal islands or in continuous films grown heteroepitaxially upon a substrate of a different metal or on a metallic alloy. Associated quantum size effects (QSE) can produce a significant height-dependence of the surface free energy for nanoscale thicknesses of up to 10–20 layers. This may suffice to induce height selection during film growth. Scanning STM analysis has revealed remarkable flat-topped or mesa-like island and film morphologies in various systems. We discuss in detail observations of QSE and associated film growth behavior for Pb/Cu(111), Ag/Fe(100), and Cu/fcc-Fe/Cu(100) [A/B or A/B/A], and for Ag/NiAl(110) with brief comments offered for Fe/Cu3Au(001) [A/BC binary alloys]. We also describe these issues for Ag/5-fold i-Al-Pd-Mn and Bi/5-fold i-Al-Cu-Fe [A/BCD ternary icosohedral quasicrystals]. Electronic structure theory analysis, either at the level of simple free electron gas models or more sophisticated Density Functional Theory calculations, can provide insight into the QSE-mediated thermodynamic driving force underlying height selection.
Rights
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright Owner
Han et al
Copyright Date
2010
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Han, Yong; Unal, Baris; Jing, Dapeng; Thiel, Patricia A.; Evans, James W.; and Liu, Da-Jiang, "Nanoscale “Quantum” Islands on Metal Substrates: Microscopy Studies and Electronic Structure Analyses" (2010). Physics and Astronomy Publications. 192.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/physastro_pubs/192
Included in
Chemistry Commons, Materials Science and Engineering Commons, Mathematics Commons, Physics Commons
Comments
This article is from Materials 3 (2010): 3965, doi: 10.3390/ma3073965. Posted with permission.