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Title: Nonclassical “Explosive” nucleation in Pb/Si(111) at low temperatures

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
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In this study, the onset of nucleation is defined in terms of a critical cluster of the condensed phase, which forms from the gradual aggregation of randomly diffusing adatoms. Experiments in Pb/Si(111) at low temperature have discovered a dramatically different type of nucleation, with perfect crystalline islands emerging “explosively” out of the compressed wetting layer after a critical coverage Θc=1.22 ML is reached. The unexpectedly high island growth rates, the directional correlations in the growth of neighboring islands and the persistence in time of where mass is added in individual islands, suggest that nucleation is a result of the highly coherent motion of the wetting layer, over mesoscopic distances.

Research Organization:
Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11358
OSTI ID:
1227148
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1180430
Report Number(s):
IS-J-8747; PRLTAO
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 113, Issue 23; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 16 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

Morphologies, metastability, and coarsening of quantum nanoislands on the surfaces of the annealed Ag(110) and Pb(111) thin films journal November 2018

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