The Role Of Defects In Solid State Dewetting Of Ultrathin Ag Film On Si(557)

We have studied the solid state dewetting of ten monolayers thick Ag film deposited on periodically patterned Si(557) surface. The annealing of the system in the ultra-high vacuum at the temperatures between 300 and 400 degrees C resulted in full agglomeration of the film and formation of faceted single crystalline Ag nanoparticles exhibiting bimodal size distribution. We demonstrated that some particles contain screw dislocations producing a step on the upper particle facet. We related the bimodality in particles distribution with the ability of dislocation-containing Ag particles to evolve by Ostwald ripening mechanism. (C) 2020 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.