Ion Beam "Photography": Decoupling Nucleation and Growth of Metal Clusters in Glass.
We demonstrate that room temperature MeV ion irradiation of a glass containing copper oxide initiates nucleation of pure Cu clusters via the inelastic "electronic" component of the ion energy loss, when the latter is above a threshold value. The clusters grow under subsequent thermal annealing, following Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner kinetics. The decoupling of nucleation and growth is analogous to that occurring in the photographic process. It allows total control over the cluster density, average size, and size distribution.
Valentin
E
Centre de Spectrométrie Nucléaire et de Spectrométrie de Masse, 91405-Orsay, France and Laboratoire CNRS/Saint-Gobain, 93303-Aubervilliers, France.
Bernas
H
Ricolleau
C
Creuzet
F