GROWTH AND RIPENING OF 2-DIMENSIONAL PALLADIUM ISLANDS ON NI(111) SURFACE

The growth of palladium islands on a Ni(111) substrate during atomic v apour deposition is simulated by the Monte Carlo method. The growth fo llows a two-dimensional mechanism when palladium coverage is less than 0.4 monolayer above which the three-dimensional islands appear. The e volution of the averaged island size against coverage exhibits an expo nential behaviour attributed to island diffusion. The substrate temper ature T, has only the effect of compacting the island. The ripening of palladium islands can be achieved by various methods. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.