Ion Beam "Photography": Decoupling Nucleation and Growth of Metal Clusters in Glass

We demonstrate that room temperature MeV ion irradiation of a glass containing copper oxide initiates nucleation of pure Cu clusters via the inelastic "electronic" component of the ion energy loss, when the latter is above a threshold value. The clusters grow under subsequent thermal annea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2001-01, Vol.86 (1), p.99-102
Main Authors: Valentin, E, Bernas, H, Ricolleau, C, Creuzet, F
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We demonstrate that room temperature MeV ion irradiation of a glass containing copper oxide initiates nucleation of pure Cu clusters via the inelastic "electronic" component of the ion energy loss, when the latter is above a threshold value. The clusters grow under subsequent thermal annealing, following Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner kinetics. The decoupling of nucleation and growth is analogous to that occurring in the photographic process. It allows total control over the cluster density, average size, and size distribution.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.86.99