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Atomically Defined Templates for Epitaxial Growth of Complex Oxide Thin Films
Published on: December 4, 2014
Surface Phase Metastability during Langmuir Evaporation
K Hannikainen1, D Gomez1, J Pereiro1
1School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We have directly imaged the spontaneous formation of metastable surface phase domains on GaAs(001) during Langmuir evaporation. Eventually, these metastable phases transform to the thermodynamically stable parent phase, producing a dynamic phase coexistence with a temperature dependent, time-averaged coverage. Monte Carlo simulations are used to identify the key kinetic processes and investigate the interplay between phase metastability and evolving surface morphology. This is used to explain the measured temperature dependence of the time-averaged coverage.
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