Non-monotonic dependence of temperature of Au nanometer films dissociation into droplets on their thickness on Al2O3 surface

Specifics of low-temperature melting and disintegration into drops of silver thin films

“…The obtained results of studies on the behavior of thin Ag films deposited on different inert surfaces during the heating process in general correlate with the conception of the melting-decaying of thin films into drops that was considered and reported in [19]. In accordance with this conception, the investigated phenomenon has thermodynamic and kinetic aspects.…”

“…Analogous behavior of films was observed also with other materials, such as Cu, Ni, and Au [13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…At once, as been established during studies of the behavior of thin films of Ni [13], Cu [14][15][16], and Au [17][18][19], a strongly determined temperature of a pro cess of the decay into drops does not exist at all. In par ticular, the melting of the copper thin film with a thickness of 20 nm began at 610°С after 5 min, while its melting occurred also at 470°С, but after 3 h and …”

“…The lower the tem perature, the thinner the layer of the liquid phase on the surface. On the basis of this phenomenon, a mech anism of the decay into drops of thin films has been suggested [16,18].…”

“…It has been shown that this process has an activation period. The cause of these effects has been discussed in [18] from the point of view of the phenomenon of hetero geneous melting of a semi infinite system, the essence of which consists in the existence of the liquid layer of a definite thickness on the surface of the solid phase, in an equilibrium state with the latter, at a temperature below the reference melting point. The lower the tem perature, the thinner the layer of the liquid phase on the surface.…”