Nanoparticle assembly via the dewetting of patterned thin metal lines: understanding the instability mechanisms

Nanosecond pulsed laser heating was used to control the assembly of spatially correlated nanoparticles from lithographically patterned pseudo-one-dimensional nickel lines. The evolution of the nickel line instabilities and nanoparticle formation with a correlated size and spacing was observed after a series of laser pulses. To understand the instabilities that direct the nanoparticle assembly, we have carried out nonlinear time-dependent simulations and linear stability analysis based on a simple hydrodynamic model. We find that the simulated time scales and length scales agree well with the experimental results. Interestingly, in both experiments and simulations, the instabilities associated with the line edge, and with the surface perturbation-driven mechanism, are found to result in similar particle sizes and spacings.