Growing large nanostructured superlattices from a continuum medium by sequential activation of self-assembly

We propose a mechanism to grow a large superlattice of phase domains from a continuum homogenous binary film by sequential activation of self-assembly. Self-assembly was initiated in a small mobile region (where atoms could diffuse) to form a seed pattern, and then the mobile region was shifted gradually. This process led to a long-range ordered superlattice regardless whether the seed was perfect or not, since the pattern quickly improved to a perfect superlattice along with the sequential activation. At a bistable state the scanning velocity controlled the type of superlattice. Further exploration led to an intriguing finding that we call the self-activation of self-assembly, a domino effect where the self-assembly in a small region causes a long-range interaction that destabilizes its homogeneous neighbor and triggers the propagation of self-assembly to the entire system.