Growth of mesoscopic correlated droplet patterns by high-vacuum sublimation

A novel growth mode, characterized by absence of grain coarsening, Ostwald ripening, and secondary nucleation, is observed for a polar conjugated mole cule, viz. tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (III) (Alq(3)), grown onto an apolar silicon substrate by high-vacuum sublimation. It results in correla ted droplet patterns on a mesoscopic length scale with narrow size distribu tion, which can be tuned by means of the deposition time t and substrate te mperature T-s. A comprehensive analysis of the results is obtained on the b asis of a capture zone model.