DYNAMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTROLESS DEPOSITION IN THE DIFFUSION-LIMITED REGIME

Electroless deposition of metallic aggregates in thin gap geometry has recently been recognized as a good candidate for producing DLA-like m orphology. In the continuation of these studies, which were mainly foc used on the fractal geometry of the growing aggregate, we address the issue of characterizing the interfacial dynamics via some local measur ement of the growth velocity during an electroless deposition process. Direct computations of the harmonic measures of DLA and electroless c lusters are compared with experimental estimations of the local growth velocity of these same clusters. This test is shown to be more releva nt than the computation of statistical quantities like the generalized fractal dimensions D-q and the f(alpha) singularity spectrum, as advo cated by the multifractal formalism. On the one hand, it does not requ ire working with clusters of very large size. On the other, it provide s a direct comparison of the theoretical and experimental local distri butions of the growth velocity along the interface of the growing clus ter. This experimental approach is therefore adapted to a real time de termination of the regime during which the growth process can be reaso nably approximated by a purely diffusion-limited process.