Deposition of Atoms on a Quasicrystalline Substrate: Molecular-Dynamics Study in 3 Dimensions

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics to explore how atoms deposit and form structures on a decagonal quasicrystalline substrate, revealing various growth modes and structural transitions influenced by interaction strengths and film thickness.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed 3D molecular dynamics analysis of atom deposition on quasicrystalline surfaces, highlighting the effects of interaction strengths and film thickness on structure formation.

Findings

Adsorbate layers form ordered nano-scale domains aligned with substrate symmetry.

Growth modes vary from layer-by-layer to clustering based on interaction strengths.

Structural transitions occur in the adsorbate layers as film thickness increases.

Abstract

We study the three-dimensional structure formation when atoms are deposited onto a substrate with a decagonal quasicrystalline order. Molecular-dynamicscalculations show that the adsorbate layer consists of ordered nano-scale domains with orientations determined by the underlying substrate symmetry. Depending on the relative strength of the interactions of adsorbate atoms with each other and with the substrate atoms, different morphologies are observed ranging from layer-by-layer growth to cluster formation. We also find that the film thickness likewise affects the overall structure of the growing film: Depending on the relative strength of the interaction between adsorbate atoms, a structural transition of the configuration of the adsorbate layers closest to the substrate can occur as the number of deposited layers increases.