title: In situ growth of cellular two-dimensional silicon oxide on metal substrates.
abstract: Crystalline hexagonally ordered silicon oxide layers with a thickness of less than a nanometer are grown on transition metal surfaces in an in situ electron microscopy experiment. The nucleation and growth of silica bilayers and monolayers, which represent the thinnest possible ordered structures of silicon oxide, are monitored in real time. The emerging layers show structural defects reminiscent of those in graphene and can also be vitreous. First-principles calculations provide atomistic insight into the energetics of the growth process. The interplay between the gain in silica-metal interaction energy due to their epitaxial match and energy loss associated with the mechanical strain of the silica network is addressed. The results of calculations indicate that both ordered and vitreous mono/bilayer structures are possible, so that the actual morphology of the layer is defined by the kinetics of the growth process.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux, UMR 7504 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, 67034 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Ferdaous
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ben Romdhane
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Björkman
authors.forename: Julio A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Manzo
authors.forename: Ovidiu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cretu
authors.forename: Arkady V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Krasheninnikov
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Banhart