Au(111) surfaces play a central role in many applications, yet studies of fundamental aspects of their dynamics are limited. Thus, using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at 300 K, we analyze the coarsening of first-layer 2D Au islands directly on the Au(111) substrate and also of second-layer 2D Au islands. Specifically, we monitor the decay of Au first-layer islands with areas of about 100–500 nm2 in the vicinity of larger islands or extended step edges over a period of approximately 40 h, the relevant time scale for this process. Experimentally observed behavior is captured by analytical theory for terrace-diffusion-limited decay incorporating DFT results for the Au terrace diffusion barrier and the adatom formation energy.Lastly, experimental observations of second-layer island decay are also compared with appropriate analytical theory and stochastic simulations, thereby determining the effective Ehrlich–Schwoebel barrier for Au on Au(111).
Spurgeon, Peter M., et al. "Fundamentals of Au(111) Surface Dynamics: Coarsening of Two-Dimensional Au Islands." Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, vol. 124, no. 13, Feb. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b12056
Spurgeon, Peter M., Lai, King C., Han, Yong, Evans, James W., & Thiel, Patricia A. (2020). Fundamentals of Au(111) Surface Dynamics: Coarsening of Two-Dimensional Au Islands. Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, 124(13). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b12056
Spurgeon, Peter M., Lai, King C., Han, Yong, et al., "Fundamentals of Au(111) Surface Dynamics: Coarsening of Two-Dimensional Au Islands," Journal of Physical Chemistry. C 124, no. 13 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b12056
@article{osti_1609162,
author = {Spurgeon, Peter M. and Lai, King C. and Han, Yong and Evans, James W. and Thiel, Patricia A.},
title = {Fundamentals of Au(111) Surface Dynamics: Coarsening of Two-Dimensional Au Islands},
annote = {Au(111) surfaces play a central role in many applications, yet studies of fundamental aspects of their dynamics are limited. Thus, using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at 300 K, we analyze the coarsening of first-layer 2D Au islands directly on the Au(111) substrate and also of second-layer 2D Au islands. Specifically, we monitor the decay of Au first-layer islands with areas of about 100–500 nm2 in the vicinity of larger islands or extended step edges over a period of approximately 40 h, the relevant time scale for this process. Experimentally observed behavior is captured by analytical theory for terrace-diffusion-limited decay incorporating DFT results for the Au terrace diffusion barrier and the adatom formation energy.Lastly, experimental observations of second-layer island decay are also compared with appropriate analytical theory and stochastic simulations, thereby determining the effective Ehrlich–Schwoebel barrier for Au on Au(111).},
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b12056},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1609162},
journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry. C},
issn = {ISSN 1932-7447},
number = {13},
volume = {124},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Chemical Society},
year = {2020},
month = {02}}