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Formation Mechanism of Fe Nanocubes by Magnetron Sputtering Inert Gas Condensation
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posted on 2016-03-10, 00:00 authored by Junlei Zhao, Ekaterina Baibuz, Jerome Vernieres, Panagiotis Grammatikopoulos, Ville Jansson, Morten Nagel, Stephan Steinhauer, Mukhles Sowwan, Antti Kuronen, Kai Nordlund, Flyura DjurabekovaIn this work, we study the formation
mechanisms of iron nanoparticles
(Fe NPs) grown by magnetron sputtering inert gas condensation and
emphasize the decisive kinetics effects that give rise specifically
to cubic morphologies. Our experimental results, as well as computer
simulations carried out by two different methods, indicate that the
cubic shape of Fe NPs is explained by basic differences in the kinetic
growth modes of {100} and {110} surfaces rather than surface formation
energetics. Both our experimental and theoretical investigations show
that the final shape is defined by the combination of the condensation
temperature and the rate of atomic deposition onto the growing nanocluster.
We, thus, construct a comprehensive deposition rate–temperature
diagram of Fe NP shapes and develop an analytical model that predicts
the temporal evolution of these properties. Combining the shape diagram
and the analytical model, morphological control of Fe NPs during formation
is feasible; as such, our method proposes a roadmap for experimentalists
to engineer NPs of desired shapes for targeted applications.