Pattern formation induced by co-deposition of Ni and C60 on MgO(100)

We report on the unusual phenomenon of pattern formation in the thin film of Ni+C60 mixture deposited on the MgO(100) substrate. Under certain deposition kinetics a periodic system of stripe domains was formed. The domains consist of sub-half-micrometer large droplets encompassed with a thin C60—bas...

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Veröffentlicht in:The Journal of chemical physics 2001-05, Vol.114 (20), p.9115-9119
Hauptverfasser: Vacik, Jiri, Naramoto, Hiroshi, Narumi, Kazumasa, Yamamoto, Shunya, Miyashita, Kiyoshi
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We report on the unusual phenomenon of pattern formation in the thin film of Ni+C60 mixture deposited on the MgO(100) substrate. Under certain deposition kinetics a periodic system of stripe domains was formed. The domains consist of sub-half-micrometer large droplets encompassed with a thin C60—based rind with a possible polymeric structure. The stripes are embedded in the double-layer platform falling into the epitaxial Ni and amorphous-C (a-C) thin films. During co-deposition the C60 molecules partly disintegrate and transform towards a-C. Due to the accumulation of a-C (with limited solubility in Ni) thermodynamic instability arises in the system and reaching a certain level, it triggers spontaneous partitioning (and self-organization) of the deposited material. As a principal mechanism of the pattern formation, a sequential drift and coordinate release of the thermodynamic instability is proposed.
ISSN:0021-9606
1089-7690
DOI:10.1063/1.1368656