Burrowing of nanoparticles on clean metal substrates: Surface smoothing on a nanoscale

C. G. Zimmermann; K. Nordlund; M. Yeadon; J. M. Gibson; R. S. Averback; U. Herr; K. Samwer

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.64.085419

Burrowing of nanoparticles on clean metal substrates: Surface smoothing on a nanoscale

C. G. Zimmermann, K. Nordlund, M. Yeadon, J. M. Gibson, R. S. Averback, U. Herr, and K. Samwer

Phys. Rev. B 64, 085419 – Published 8 August 2001

Abstract

We have investigated soft landings of Co nanoparticles on clean Cu(001) surfaces. The nanoparticles, ≈10 nm in size, were generated by dc magnetron sputtering in argon and transferred in the gas stream to an ultrahigh vacuum transmission electron microscope (TEM), where they were deposited on the thin-film substrate. The surface morphology created in this fashion exhibits a unique smoothing mechanism. The nanoparticles do not remain on the surface at temperatures as low as 600 K, but rather reorient and burrow into the substrate. By analyzing the TEM data in combination with molecular dynamics simulations, we were able to study this process in detail and to develop a model to quantify the temperature and cluster size dependence of burrowing.

Received 18 February 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.64.085419

Authors & Affiliations

C. G. Zimmermann^1,2, K. Nordlund^1,*, M. Yeadon^1,†, J. M. Gibson^1,‡, R. S. Averback¹, U. Herr^2,§, and K. Samwer^2,∥

¹Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
²Institut für Physik, Universität Augsburg, D-86135 Augsburg, Germany

^*Present address: Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 43, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
^†Present address: Department of Materials Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260.
^‡Present address: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439-4838.
^§Present address: Materials Division, Faculty of Engineering, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
^∥Present address: I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.

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Vol. 64, Iss. 8 — 15 August 2001

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