Adatom Diffusion and Interactions: Pd on W(110)

Three-atom interaction energies have been estimated from the observed linear-to-island transformation of Pd clusters and from the measured interaction energies of Pd pairs. In this, three-atom interaction energies corresponding to two different configurations, linear and triangle, have been obtained for the first time. It has been found that the magnitude of the three-atom interaction energy for the linear configuration, F$\sb{\rm 3,lin}$, is large. The large three-atom interaction energy of the linear configuration is responsible for the observed stability of linear chain structures of small Pd clusters and for the linear-to-island transformation when the size of the cluster increases. This study has shown that many-atom interactions play a crucial role in the cohesion and structure of nuclei in the early stages of crystal growth and hence significantly influence the entire growth process.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Materials Science and Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Koh, Seong Jin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ehrlich, Gert

• Engineering, Materials Science

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9834700

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82901