Self-Organized Growth of Nanoparticles on a Surface Patterned by a Buried Dislocation Network

F. Leroy (1, 2) , G. Renaud (2) , A. Létoublon (2) , R. Lazzari (3) , C. Mottet (4) , J. Goniakowski (3)

1 CINaM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille
2 SP2M - UMR 9002 - Service de Physique des Matériaux et Microstructures
3 INSP - Institut des Nanosciences de Paris
4 CRMCN - Centre de recherche de la matière condensée et des nanosciences

The self-organized growth of Co nanoparticles is achieved at room temperature on an inhomogenously strained Ag(001) surface arising from an underlying square misfit dislocation network of 10 nm periodicity buried at the interface between a 5 nm-thick Ag film and a MgO(001) substrate. This is revealed by in situ grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering. Simulations of the data performed in the distorted wave Born approximation framework demonstrate that the Co clusters grow above the dislocation crossing lines. This is confirmed by molecular dynamic simulations indicating preferential Co adsorption on tensile sites.

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

F. Leroy, G. Renaud, A. Létoublon, R. Lazzari, C. Mottet, et al.. Self-Organized Growth of Nanoparticles on a Surface Patterned by a Buried Dislocation Network. Physical Review Letters, 2005, 95 (18), pp.185501. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.185501⟩. ⟨hal-01442861⟩