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Atomic View of Surfactant Action in Epitaxial Growth: From STM to Computer Simulation

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Book cover Atomistic Aspects of Epitaxial Growth

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((NAII,volume 65))

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Abstract

We have combined experiments and computer simulations to visualize the atomic mechanisms behind the surfactant role of Pb, Co, or Cu atoms deposited on Cu(111) covered with a Pb monolayer quickly getting buried beneath the latter. The presence of the surfactant induces a strong buckling in several substrate layers, which, in turn, modifies many of the system’s properties. Atomic diffusion takes place below the surfactant by atomic exchange, while on the clean surface hopping dominates. The activation energy for surface diffusion or the adsorption energies are also significantly altered. These findings have important implications for the synthesis of novel heterostructures such as magnetic superlattices.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento Física de la Materia Condensada, C-3, and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales “Nicolás Cabrera”, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049, Madrid, Spain

    J. Camarero, A. L. Vázquez De Parga, J. E. Prieto, J. J. De Miguel & R. Miranda

  2. INTEC-CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, 3000, Santa Fe, Argentina

    C. Slutzky & J. Ferrón

  3. Fac. Cs. Exactas e Ingeniería, Univ. Nacional de Rosario, Instituto de Física Rosario, 2000, Rosario, Argentina

    L. Gómez

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  1. J. Camarero
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  2. A. L. Vázquez De Parga
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  3. J. E. Prieto
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  4. J. J. De Miguel
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  5. R. Miranda
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  6. C. Slutzky
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  7. J. Ferrón
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  8. L. Gómez
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

    Miroslav Kotrla

  2. Physics Department, Solid State Division, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Nicolas I. Papanicolaou

  3. The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK

    Dimitri D. Vvedensky

  4. Department of Physics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Luc T. Wille

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Camarero, J. et al. (2002). Atomic View of Surfactant Action in Epitaxial Growth: From STM to Computer Simulation. In: Kotrla, M., Papanicolaou, N.I., Vvedensky, D.D., Wille, L.T. (eds) Atomistic Aspects of Epitaxial Growth. NATO Science Series, vol 65. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0391-9_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0391-9_37

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0675-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0391-9

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