Investigation of impact and spreading of molten nanosized gold droplets on solid surfaces

Understanding the impact dynamics and spreading of molten nanosized droplets on a solid surface is a crucial step towards the design and control of nano-fabrication in many novel applications of nanotechnology. In this context, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations have been conducted to compute temperature and dynamic contact angles of nano-droplets during impact. The evolution of the morphology of a molten metallic nano-droplet impacting on a substrate has been studied using a combination of experimental and simulation techniques. Femtosecond lasers have been used to transfer nanosized gold droplets. Droplet morphology calculated in MD simulations is found to be in good agreement with that seen in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. It is found that the spreading of nanoscale molten gold droplets upon impact is enhanced by increasing the droplet impact energy. As observed in experimental data, MD simulation results show that a high droplet-substrate heat transfer rate together with increased wettability of the substrate facilitates spreading and results in a thinner metal deposit after solidification.