From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Growth of metallic nanorods by physical vapor deposition is a common practice, and the origin of their dimensions is a characteristic length scale that depends on the three-dimensional Ehrlich-Schwoebel (3D ES) barrier. For most metals, the 3D ES barrier is large...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Nanoscale Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/559 |
| _version_ | 1797762258534662144 |
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| author | Lee Soohwan Huang Hanchen |
| author_facet | Lee Soohwan Huang Hanchen |
| author_sort | Lee Soohwan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Growth of metallic nanorods by physical vapor deposition is a common practice, and the origin of their dimensions is a characteristic length scale that depends on the three-dimensional Ehrlich-Schwoebel (3D ES) barrier. For most metals, the 3D ES barrier is large so the characteristic length scale is on the order of 200 nm. Using density functional theory-based <it>ab initio </it>calculations, this paper reports that the 3D ES barrier of Al is small, making it infeasible to grow Al nanorods. By analyzing electron density distributions, this paper shows that the small barrier is the result of covalent bonding in Al. Beyond the infeasibility of growing Al nanorods by physical vapor deposition, the results of this paper suggest a new mechanism of controlling the 3D ES barrier and thereby nanorod growth. The modification of local degree of covalent bonding, for example, via the introduction of surfactants, can increase the 3D ES barrier and promote nanorod growth, or decrease the 3D ES barrier and promote thin film growth.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:24:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-60df027c0cc74a43a3cf17fb1b857c12 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1931-7573 1556-276X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:24:45Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanoscale Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-60df027c0cc74a43a3cf17fb1b857c122023-08-02T04:54:00ZengSpringerOpenNanoscale Research Letters1931-75731556-276X2011-01-0161559From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorodsLee SoohwanHuang Hanchen<p>Abstract</p> <p>Growth of metallic nanorods by physical vapor deposition is a common practice, and the origin of their dimensions is a characteristic length scale that depends on the three-dimensional Ehrlich-Schwoebel (3D ES) barrier. For most metals, the 3D ES barrier is large so the characteristic length scale is on the order of 200 nm. Using density functional theory-based <it>ab initio </it>calculations, this paper reports that the 3D ES barrier of Al is small, making it infeasible to grow Al nanorods. By analyzing electron density distributions, this paper shows that the small barrier is the result of covalent bonding in Al. Beyond the infeasibility of growing Al nanorods by physical vapor deposition, the results of this paper suggest a new mechanism of controlling the 3D ES barrier and thereby nanorod growth. The modification of local degree of covalent bonding, for example, via the introduction of surfactants, can increase the 3D ES barrier and promote nanorod growth, or decrease the 3D ES barrier and promote thin film growth.</p>http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/559metal surface stepsadatomdiffusioncovalent bondingsimulation |
| spellingShingle | Lee Soohwan Huang Hanchen From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods Nanoscale Research Letters metal surface steps adatom diffusion covalent bonding simulation |
| title | From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods |
| title_full | From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods |
| title_fullStr | From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods |
| title_full_unstemmed | From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods |
| title_short | From covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods |
| title_sort | from covalent bonding to coalescence of metallic nanorods |
| topic | metal surface steps adatom diffusion covalent bonding simulation |
| url | http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/559 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leesoohwan fromcovalentbondingtocoalescenceofmetallicnanorods AT huanghanchen fromcovalentbondingtocoalescenceofmetallicnanorods |