The initial stages of growth of oriented copper nuclei on single crystal surfaces of silver

Abstract

Layers of metallic copper of less than 1 Å in average thickness have been deposited in a controlled manner on to smooth (111) surfaces of silver inside an electron diffraction camera. It is found that an electron diffraction pattern from oriented copper nuclei appears suddenly at some critical thickness. This critical thickness decreases with increasing substrate temperature, being about 0.9 Å at room temperature and 0.2 Å at 300°c. Possibilities for the initial structure of the deposit, and for the change which occurs at the critical thickness, are considered, and the effect of substrate temperature is discussed.