Reflection high energy electron diffraction as a tool in cluster deposition experiments

Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is used to study the structure and orientation of mass‐filtered iron clusters upon deposition onto W(110). The present setup enables in situ investigations during deposition and thermal annealing. Particles as small as 2 nm at low density on the su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physica status solidi. B. Basic research 2010-05, Vol.247 (5), p.1048-1055
Main Authors: Kleibert, Armin, Voitkans, Andris, Meiwes-Broer, Karl-Heinz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
34.35.+a
36.40.Qv
61.05.jh
61.46.Df
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Electron diffraction and scattering
Exact sciences and technology
Low-energy electron diffraction (leed) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (rheed)
Materials science
Methods of deposition of films and coatings
film growth and epitaxy
Molecular, atomic, ion, and chemical beam epitaxy
Nanopowders
Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization
Physics
Structure of solids and liquids
crystallography
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Summary:Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is used to study the structure and orientation of mass‐filtered iron clusters upon deposition onto W(110). The present setup enables in situ investigations during deposition and thermal annealing. Particles as small as 2 nm at low density on the surface can be studied. The experiments reveal that larger particles with a diameter of about 13 nm are randomly oriented on the substrate with a preferred tendency to rest on their surface facets. Thermal annealing leads to a partial realignment and a significant flattening of the particles. In contrast 2 nm particles are found to align spontaneously in an epitaxial manner on W(110). Thermodynamic arguments suggest that thermally activated motion of dislocations is responsible for the observed alignment phenomena rather than temporary melting of the particles. RHEED setup for in situ investigations in cluster deposition experiments. Size, shape, structure and orientation of supported nanostructures have crucial impact on their catalytic, electronic, optical and magnetic properties. Thus, gaining control over these parameters is subject of intense research. In this contribution the authors show that reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) enables highly sensitive in situ studies on the orientation, structure, and strain of size‐selected clusters upon deposition onto single crystalline substrates.
ISSN:0370-1972
1521-3951
DOI:10.1002/pssb.200945496