Abstract
Island densities and island sizes can be varied or even tailored by choice of external parameters in molecular beam epitaxy, i. e., by the choice of substrate temperature, deposition rate, and coverage. We present a comprehensive study of the nucleation kinetics of Cu on Ni(100) using variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. The analysis of the saturation island density as a function of substrate temperature and deposition rate reveals that the smallest stable island abruptly changes from a dimer to a tetramer. The sizes of the critical nuclei are determined from the rate dependence of the saturation island density using mean-field nucleation theory consistent with results from the island size distribution using scaling theory. From the Arrhenius-plot, the microscopic quantities (migration barrier and dimer bond energy) have been deduced.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
J. A. Venables, G. D. T. Spiller, and M. Hanbücken. “Nucleation and growth of thin films”. Rep. Prog. Phys., 47, 399 (1984).
H. Brune, H. Röder, C. Boragno, and K. Kern. “Microscopic view of nucleation on surfaces”. Phys. Rev. Lett, 73, 1955 (1994).
H. Dürr, J. F. Wendelken, and J. K. Zuo. “Island morphology and adatom energy barriers during homoepitaxy on Cu(001)”. Surf. Sci, 328, L527 (1995).
H. J. Ernst, F. Fabre, and J. Lapujoulade. “Nucleation and diffusion of Cu adatoms on Cu(001): A helium-atom-beam scattering study”. Phys. Rev. B, 46, 1929 (1992).
M. Bott, T. Michely, and G. Comsa. “The homoepitaxial growth of Pt on Pt(111) studied with STM”. Surf. Sci., 272, 161 (1992).
H. Röder, H. Brune, J. P. Bucher, and K. Kern. “Changing morphology of metallic monolayers via temperature controlled heteroepitaxial growth”. Surf. Sci., 298, 121 (1993).
J. A. Stroscio, D. T. Pierce, and R. A. Dragoset. “Homoepitaxial growth of iron and a real space view of reflection-high-energy-electron diffraction”. Phys. Rev. Lett., 70, 3615 (1993).
J.-P. Bucher, E. Hahn, P. Fernandez, C. Massobrio, and K. Kern. “Transition from one-to two-dimensional growth of Cu on Pd(110) promoted by cross-exchange migration”. Europhys. Lett, 27, 473 (1994).
S. Günther, E. Kopatzki, M. C. Bartelt, J. W. Evans, and R. J. Behm. “Anisotropy in nucleation and growth of two-dimensional islands during homoepitaxy on ‘hex’ reconstructed Au(100)”. Phys. Rev. Lett, 73, 553 (1994).
Michael Bott, Michael Hohage, Markus Morgenstern, Thomas Michely, and George Comsa. “New approach for determination of diffusion parameters of adatoms”. Phys. Rev. Lett., 76, 1304 (1996).
T. R. Linderoth, J. J. Mortensen, K. W. Jacobsen, E. Laegsgaard, I. Stensgaard, and F. Besenbacher. “Homoepitaxial growth of Pt on Pt(001)-hex: Effects of strongly anisotropic diffusion and finite island sizes”. Phys. Rev. Lett, 77, 87 (1996).
J. A. Stroscio and D. T. Pierce. “Scaling of diffusion-mediated island growth in iron-on-iron homoepitaxy”. Phys. Rev. B, 49, 8522 (1994).
Holger Röder, Elmar Hahn, Harald Brune, Jean-Pierre Bucher, and Klaus Kern. “Building one-and two-dimensional nanostructures by diffusion-controlled aggregation at surfaces”. Nature, 366, 141 (1993).
J. A. Venables. “Rate equation approaches to thin film nucleation kinetics”. Philos. Mag., 17, 697 (1973).
M. C. Bartelt and J. W. Evans. “Scaling analysis of diffusion-mediated island growth in surface adsorption processes”. Phys. Rev. B, 46, 12675 (1992).
J. G. Amar and F. Family. “Critical cluster size: Island morphology and size distribution in submonolayer epitaxial growth”. Phys. Rev. Lett., 74, 2066 (1995).
Harald Brune, Holger Röder, Karsten Bromann, and Klaus Kern. “Kinetic processes in metal epitaxy studied with variable temperature STM: Ag/Pt(111)”. Thin Solid Films, 264, 230 (1995).
Z. Zhang, X. Chen, and M. G. Lagally. “Bonding-geometry dependence of fractal growth on metal surfaces”. Phys. Rev. Lett, 73, 1829 (1994).
B. Müller, L. Nedelmann, B. Fischer, J. Barth, H. Brune, and K. Kern. “Irregular island shapes on square lattices”. to be published.
M. F. Sykes and M. Glen. “Percolation processes in two dimensions I. low density series expansions”. J. Phys. A. Math. Gen., 9, 87 (1976).
B. Müller, L. Nedelmann, B. Fischer, H. Brune, and K. Kern. “Initial stages of Cu epitaxy on Ni(100): Post-nucleation and a well defined transition in critical island size”. Phys. Rev. B, accepted.
Strictly speaking χ = 1/3 is only exact for compact islands. For ramified islands slightly higher values have been reported. G. S. Bales and D. C. Chrzan. “Dynamic of irreversible island growth during submonolayer epitaxy”. Phys. Rev. B, 50, 6057 (1994).
G. L. Kellogg. “Field ion microscopy studies of single-atom surface diffusion and cluster nucleation on metal surfaces”. Surf. Sci. Rep., 21, 1 (1994).
L. S. Perkins and A. E. DePristo. “Heterogeneous adatom diffusion on fcc(100) surfaces: Ni, Cu, Rh, Pd, and Ag”. Surf. Sci., 319, 225 (1994).
M. C. Bartelt, L. S. Perkins, and J. W. Evans. “Transitions in critical size for metal (100) homoepitaxy”. Surf. Sci., 344, L1193 (1995).
K. W. Jacobsen. “Bonding in metallic systems: An effective-medium approach”. Comments Cond. Mat Phys., 14, 129 (1988).
P. Stoltze. “Simulations of surface defects”. J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 6, 9495 (1994).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Müller, B., Nedelmann, L., Fischer, B., Brune, H., Kern, K. (1997). Submonolayer Nucleation and Growth of Copper on Ni(100). In: Tringides, M.C. (eds) Surface Diffusion. NATO ASI Series, vol 360. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0262-7_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0262-7_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0264-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0262-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive