Origins of nanoscale heterogeneity in ultrathin films

Abstract

A key challenge in thin-film growth is controlling structure and composition at the atomic scale. We have used spatially resolved electron scattering to measure how the three-dimensional composition profile of an alloy film evolves with time at the nanometer length scale. We show that heterogeneity during the growth of Pd on Cu(001) arises naturally from a generic step-overgrowth mechanism relevant in many growth systems.

Department

Physics

Publication Date

6-26-2006

Journal Title

Physical Review Letters

Publisher

AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.246103

Document Type

Article

Rights

© 2006 The American Physical Society

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