Growth of Co nanoclusters on SiC honeycomb templates

Abstract

A honeycomb-like SiC reconstructed surface with regular, periodic porosity in the nano-scale range has been used as an effective template for the formation of monodispersed Co nanoclusters. In-situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used to study the nucleation process of the Co nanoclusters on this template. The deposition of Co at different substrate temperature was investigated by STM. It is found that the failure in the deposition of Co nanoclusters on the SiC honeycomb template with substrate temperatures higher than room temperature (RT) might be due to the high desorption rate of the adsorbed Co atoms.