Abstract
The spreading of a bilayer gold film propagating outward from gold clusters, which are pinned to clean Si(111), is imaged in real time by low-energy electron microscopy. By monitoring the evolution of the boundary of the gold film at fixed temperature, a linear dependence of the spreading radius on time is found. The measured spreading velocities in the temperature range of varied from below to . We show that the spreading rate is limited by the reaction to form Au silicide, and the spreading velocity is likely regulated by the reconstruction of the gold silicide that occurs at the interface.
- Received 10 June 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.256102
©2009 American Physical Society