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March 30th, 2009
Novel fluid-like nanoscale material growth
Abstract:
When physicists at DOE's Ames Laboratory examined how lead atoms self assemble into nanoscale stacks, or islands, on a silicon surface, they made two surprising discoveries. "One big surprise was that the atoms were moving a lot at such a low temperature," said senior physicist Michael C. Tringides, who led the research effort. "The other surprise was that the atoms weren't moving randomly like individual atoms as expected. Instead, the whole layer of lead atoms was moving like a liquid." The unexpected observations of fluid-like motion help explain the unique fast and uniform growth behavior of lead-on-silicon islands. And, the findings offer promising possibilities for the next generation of nanosized transitors or novel nanomaterials, since industrial applications of nanogrowth require fast and easily reproducible processes.
Source:
DOE
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