Thin Film Growth Animation (VIDEO)
Caption
This animation is a simplified representation of thin film growth. As C60 molecules are deposited onto a material, they form multiple layers simultaneously -- not one layer at a time. After a molecule reaches the surface of the material, it migrates by surface diffusion towards the boundary of an existing layer, or the 'step-edge,' causing the step-edge to move out from the center of the mound. This process repeats as new layers are continuously formed in an organized pattern. The mound increases in height by one layer after an equivalent of one full layer of molecules has been deposited onto the material. The pattern of step-edges is self-similar after each full-layer-equivalent is deposited, just displaced one layer higher. The main result of the study is that this repeating self-similarity, or 'autocorrelation,' can be quantitatively measured with coherent x-rays, and that the autocorrelations can be used to deduce certain details of how step-edges propagate during the deposition.
Credit
Brookhaven National Laboratory
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