Plasma-driven self-organization of Ni nanodot arrays on Si(100)
- Plasma Nanoscience, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006 (Australia)
- CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, P.O. Box 218, Lindfield, New South Wales 2070 (Australia)
- Department of Microelectronic Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 14623-5604 (United States)
The results of the combined experimental and numerical study suggest that nonequilibrium plasma-driven self-organization leads to better size and positional uniformity of nickel nanodot arrays on a Si(100) surface compared with neutral gas-based processes under similar conditions. This phenomenon is explained by introducing the absorption zone patterns, whose areas relative to the small nanodot sizes become larger when the surface is charged. Our results suggest that strongly nonequilibrium and higher-complexity plasma systems can be used to improve ordering and size uniformity in nanodot arrays of various materials, a common and seemingly irresolvable problem in self-organized systems of small nanoparticles.
- OSTI ID:
- 21175705
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 93, Issue 18; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3012572; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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