Nucleation and film growth

Stoyanov S and Kashchiev D 1981 Thin film nucleation and growth theories a confrontation with experiment Current... 

In summary, a vacuum-based process must be capable of enhancing catalyst activity at the palladium surface, perhaps by atomic displacement, and of optimizing diffusion pathways, perhaps by formation of small grains and many grain boundaries. Finally, the film nucleation and growth process must favor production of a thin but pin-hole free film and avoidance of island formation known as Volmer-Weber growth. 

Grubac Z, Metikos-Hukovic M (2002) Electrodeposition of thin sulfide films nucleation and growth observed for Bi2S3. Thin Solid Eihns 413 248... 

Condensation of the vapors followed by film nucleation and growth... 

Li, F.B., Newman, R.C., and Thompson, G.E., In situ atomic force microscopy studies of electrodeposition mechanism of cerium oxide films Nucleation and growth out of a gel mass precursor. Electrochimica Acta, 1997. 42(16) 2455-2464. 

The following two sections will focus on epitaxial growth from a surface science perspective with the aim of revealing the fundamentals of tliin-film growth. As will be discussed below, surface science studies of thin-film deposition have contributed greatly to an atomic-level understanding of nucleation and growth. 

Lewis B and Anderson J C 1978 Nucleation and Growth of Thin Films (New York Academic)... 

Venables J A, Spiller G D T and Hanbucken M 1984 Nucleation and growth of thin-films Rep. Prog. Phys. 47 399... 

A furdrer complication is that in these slowly growing oxide films, tire spread of the oxide across the metal surface is limited in the early stages by nucleation and growth control. The bare patches of metal between the oxide nuclei will clearly be exposed to a higher oxygen potential and new oxide nuclei will grow at a different initial rate than on the existing nuclei. 

This approach is an alternative to quantitative metallography and in the hands of a master gives even more accurate results than the rival method. A more recent development (Chen and Spaepen 1991) is the analysis of the isothermal curve when a material which may be properly amorphous or else nanocrystalline (e.g., a bismuth film vapour-deposited at low temperature) is annealed. The form of the isotherm allows one to distinguish nucleation and growth of a crystalline phase, from the growth of a preexisting nanocrystalline structure. 

Figure 37. Lateral section of a polymeric film during the nucleation and growth of the conducting zones after a potential step. (Reprinted from T. F. Otero, H.-J. Grande, and J. Rodriguez, A new model for electrochemical oxidation of polypyrrole under conformational relaxation control. /. Electroanal. Chem. 394, 211, 1995, Figs. 2-5. Copyright 1995. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science.)...

The issue of nucleation and growth is complicated by the formation of oligomeric and polymeric species in solution and their precipitation onto the electrode surface, which may be the primary mechanism for nuclei formation.62 The expansion of nuclei and film growth arise both from the precipitation of oligomeric intermediates formed in solution and... 

G6mez H, Henriquez R, Schrebler R, Cordova R, Ramirez D, Riveros G, Dalchiele EA (2005) Electrodeposition of CdTe thin films onto n-Si(lOO) nucleation and growth mechanisms. Electrochim Acta 50 1299-1305... 

Stange, T. G., Evans, D. F. and Hendrickson, W. A. (1997) Nucleation and growth of defects leading to dewetting of thin polymer films. Langmuir, 13, 4459-4465. 

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