Growth and Equilibration of Thin Metal Films

该研究项目由分析和表面化学项目支持，研究金属薄膜生长的详细机制。爱荷华州立大学的Evans教授和Thiel教授将结合生长机制和形态学的实验研究，使用扫描探针显微镜和高分辨率低能电子衍射测量，并对这些过程进行理论建模。理论方法是基于原子晶格-气体模型，并结合蒙特卡罗分子动力学方法。理论和实验之间的相互作用有助于定义所研究的复杂模型系统，包括同外延生长和异质外延生长。这项工作的重点是揭示金属薄膜生长的详细的原子水平机制。这些金属薄膜在制造电子器件、包装和涂料工业以及光学材料合成方面具有重要的技术意义。通过实验和理论方法的结合，包括扫描探针显微镜、电子衍射和分子动力学建模，对生长过程进行了详细的了解。

This research project, which is supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, addresses the detailed mechanisms of metal thin film growth. Professors Evans and Thiel at Iowa State University will combine experimental studies of growth mechanism and morphology, using scanning probe microscopy and high resolution low energy electron diffraction measurements, with theoretical modelling of these processes. The theoretical approaches are based on atomistic lattice-gas models, and incorporate Monte Carlo molecular dynamics methods. The interaction between theory and experiment helps to define the complex model systems under study, which include both homoepitaxial and heteroepitaxial growth. Emphasis in this work is on uncovering the detailed atomic level mechanisms of the growth of metal thin films. These metal thin films are technologically important in the manufacture of electronic devices, in the packaging and coatings industry, and in optical material synthesis. A detailed understanding of the growth process is developed by a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches, including scanning probe microscopy, electron diffraction, and molecular dynamics modelling.