Novel Growth of Ag Islands on Si(111): Plateaus with a Singular Height

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1999 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.129· OSTI ID:292727

Gavioli, L; Wendelken, J F; Zhang, Z ^[1]; Kimberlin, K R; Tringides, M C ^[2]; Zhang, Z ^[3]

---

1. Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
2. Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011 (United States)
3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 (United States)

Growth and transport properties of thin Ag films on Si(111) are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and {ital in situ} resistivity measurements. At low coverage, the Ag adatoms form isolated islands with a strongly preferred height and flat tops, rather than commonly observed pyramids. Such plateaus increase their lateral extent with coverage {ital without} changing height, forming a percolated network with sharply reduced resistivity above a critical coverage. This behavior suggests how the quantized electrons confined in the Ag islands could influence the growth, and may provide a unique pathway to prepare nanometer-scale structures with intriguing mesoscopic properties. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-96OR22464
• OSTI ID: 292727
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 82, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1999
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
SILVER
THIN FILMS
SILICON
GROWTH
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
ANNEALING