Stepanova M, Dew S K
National Institute for Nanotechnology NRC, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
J Phys Condens Matter. 2009 Jun 3;21(22):224014. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/21/22/224014. Epub 2009 May 12.
Creation of self-organized surface nanostructures by ion beam sputtering (IBS) has strong potential for use in a broad range of technologies, from nanoelectronics and photonics to sensing and catalysis. Recently, we have developed a simple two-stage process for fabricating self-assembled arrays of Cu dots and lines on Si and SiO(2) substrates employing IBS of thin Cu films. We found that the self-assembled structures on the substrate result from a complex interaction between the structure-forming kinetic instability and various outcomes of the surface diffusion and coarsening, which tend to drive the surface pattern towards a thermodynamic equilibrium. Here, we analyze in detail the interplay of the kinetic nanopatterning and coarsening, in order to better understand the mechanisms defining the IBS-generated metallic structures on substrates of a different material. By means of kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) modeling we investigate the pertinent trends of the self-organization at the surface of a metallic film. In the light of this discussion, we review the fabricated nanostructures. Finally, we present a KMC model of the two-stage IBS process and analyze the stability of the fabricated metal patterns at the surface of a substrate. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of this technique, concluding that the IBS creation of surface heterostructures provides considerable room for future numerical and experimental studies.
通过离子束溅射（IBS）制备自组织表面纳米结构在从纳米电子学、光子学到传感和催化等广泛技术领域具有强大的应用潜力。最近，我们开发了一种简单的两步法，利用薄铜膜的离子束溅射在硅和二氧化硅（SiO₂）衬底上制备铜点和线的自组装阵列。我们发现，衬底上的自组装结构源于结构形成动力学不稳定性与表面扩散和粗化的各种结果之间的复杂相互作用，这些结果倾向于将表面图案驱动至热力学平衡。在此，我们详细分析动力学纳米图案化与粗化之间的相互作用，以便更好地理解决定在不同材料衬底上离子束溅射产生的金属结构的机制。通过动力学蒙特卡罗（KMC）模拟，我们研究了金属膜表面自组织的相关趋势。鉴于此讨论，我们回顾了所制备的纳米结构。最后，我们提出了两步离子束溅射过程的KMC模型，并分析了在衬底表面制备的金属图案的稳定性。我们讨论了该技术的机遇与挑战，得出结论：离子束溅射制备表面异质结构为未来的数值和实验研究提供了相当大的空间。
