Controlling nucleation rates in nanostructures with electron confinement

• Published in: Surface science Vol. 604; no. 5; pp. 519 - 522
• Main Authors: Kuntová, Z., Tringides, M.C., Binz, S.M., Hupalo, M., Chvoj, Z.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 15-03-2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Confinement; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Density; Exact sciences and technology; Islands; Lead (metal); Models of surface kinetics; Monte Carlo methods; Monte Carlo simulations; Nanostructure; Nucleation; Physics; Quantum size effects; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Surface chemistry; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Models of surface kinetics; Monte Carlo simulations; Nucleation; Quantum size effects; Monte Carlo methods; Digital simulation; Kinetics; Nanostructures; Quantum size effect
• ISSN: 0039-6028; 1879-2758
• DOI: 10.1016/j.susc.2009.12.015

One of the goals for growing low dimensional structures is to explore their electronic structure variation with size due to confinement. Recent experiments in Pb adsorption on Pb islands of stable and unstable height at low temperatures have shown a spectacular variation in the nucleated island density (∼60 times) as a function of height. With Monte Carlo simulations we can faithfully reproduce the observed morphologies with a single assumption that
i
c
is different on stable and unstable islands. This shows that confinement can result in large oscillations of nucleation rates and adsorption.