Stable and uniform arrays of self-assembled nanocrystalline islands

Abstract

The stability of islands against coarsening during the self-assembly process of the Stranski-Krastanow systems was explored by an energy analysis and by numerical simulation for the morphological evolution of the islands dominated by surface diffusion. The results demonstrate that the Stranski-Krastanow systems can develop islands stable against coarsening when subject to a large film-substrate interaction and a large mismatch strain. The stable systems can be adopted to grow uniform and regular island arrays by adjusting the length scale in the island formation process and by introducing a regular pattern of small amplitude on the film surface.