Morphologies, metastability and coarsening of quantum nanoislands on the surfaces of the annealed Ag(110) and Pb(111) thin films

TL;DR

This paper investigates the morphological evolution and coarsening behavior of quantum nanoislands on Ag(110) and Pb(111) thin films using a continuum model that includes quantum size effects, revealing metastability, transition pathways, and coarsening laws.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed continuum model that incorporates quantum size effects to analyze nanoisland evolution, metastability, and coarsening in ultrathin metal films.

Findings

Metastability of 'magic' island heights identified

Morphological transition pathways mapped

Coarsening laws for island density and area derived

Abstract

Morphological evolution of heteroepitaxial nanoislands toward equilibrium (coarsening) is computed using the detailed continuum model that incorporates the quantum size effect. Results reveal the metastability of the "magic" heights, show the morphological transitions and the surface diffusion routes by which a quantum island reaches its stable height, and provide the coarsening laws for the island density and area, thus clarifying the kinetic morphology pathways in the growth of an ultrathin metal films.