Abstract
Structure and stability of nanometer-sized Ag887, Au887 and Ti787 clusters soft-landed on graphite (at deposition energies Edep = 0.001 − 5.0 eV per atom) are studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Parameters for the cluster–surface interactions are derived from complementary ab initio calculations. The shape and the contact angle of deposited clusters are systematically analyzed for different deposition energies and temperature regimes. The Ag887 cluster deposited at Edep ≲ 0.1 eV/atom undergoes collision-induced plastic deformation, thus acquiring an ellipsoidal shape with the contact angle close to 180°. In contrast, Au887 and Ti787 clusters undergo a collision-induced melting phase transition followed by their recrystallization; these processes lead to the formation of the droplet-like shapes of the clusters in a form of truncated spheroids. At larger deposition energies all clusters flatten over the surface and eventually disintegrate at Edep ≈ 0.75 − 1.0 eV/atom (for Ag887 and Au887) and ≈3 eV/atom (for Ti787). It is found also that the shape of deposited clusters is strongly influenced by the strength of cluster–substrate interaction and the corresponding interaction mechanism, namely the weak van der Waals interaction between metal and carbon atoms or the van der Waals interaction with an onset of covalent bonding. Similar phenomena should arise in the deposition of clusters made of other elements, which interact with a substrate by one of the above-described mechanisms.
Graphical abstract
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
P. Jensen, Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, 1695 (1999)
K.-H. Meiwes-Broer, Metal Clusters at Surfaces: Structure, Quantum Properties, Physical Chemistry (Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2000)
J.-P. Connerade, A.V. Solov’yov, Latest Advances in Atomic Cluster Collisions: Structure and Dynamics from the Nuclear to the Biological Scale (Imperial College Press, 2008)
K. Bromann, C. Félix, H. Brune, W. Harbich, R. Monot, J. Buttet, K. Kern, Science 274, 956 (1996)
S.J. Carroll, P. Weibel, B. von Issendorff, L. Kuipers, R.E. Palmer, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 8, L617 (1996)
M. Hillenkamp, S.-S. Jester, M.M. Kappes, J. Chem. Phys. 116, 6764 (2002)
A. Kaplan, A. Bekkerman, B. Tsipinyuk, E. Kolodney, Phys. Rev. B 79, 233405 (2009)
H.-P. Cheng, U. Landman, J. Phys. Chem. 98, 3527 (1994)
P. Thaler, A. Volk, M. Ratschek, M. Koch, W.E. Ernst, J. Chem. Phys. 140, 044326 (2014)
V. Bernstein, E. Kolodney, J. Chem. Phys. 145, 044303 (2016)
V.N. Popok, I. Barke, E.E.B. Campbell, K.-H. Meiwes-Broer, Surf. Sci. Rep. 66, 347 (2011)
S. Pratontep, P. Preece, C. Xirouchaki, R.E. Palmer, C.F. Sanz-Navarro, S.D. Kenny, R. Smith, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 055503 (2003)
R. Smith, R.P. Webb, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 441, 495 (1993)
S.R. Plant, L. Cao, F. Yin, Z.W. Wang, R.E. Palmer, Nanoscale 6, 1258 (2014)
Z.W. Wang, R.E. Palmer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 245502 (2012)
L. Bardotti, P. Jensen, A. Hoareau, M. Treilleux, B. Cabaud, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4694 (1995)
R. Alayan, L. Arnaud, M. Broyer, E. Cottancin, J. Lermé, S. Marhaba, J.L. Vialle, M. Pellarin, Phys. Rev. B 76, 075424 (2007)
W.D. Luedtke, U. Landman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3835 (1999)
C. Bréchignac, P. Cahuzac, F. Carlier, C. Colliex, J. Leroux, A. Masson, B. Yoon, U. Landman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 196103 (2002)
A. Lando, N. Kébaïli, Ph Cahuzac, C. Colliex, M. Couillard, A. Masson, M. Schmidt, C. Bréchignac, Eur. Phys. J. D 43, 151 (2007)
I.A. Solov’yov, A.V. Solov’yov, N. Kébaili, A. Masson, C. Bréchignac, Phys. Status Solidi B 251, 609 (2014)
R.E. Palmer, S. Pratontep, H.-G. Boyen, Nat. Mater. 2, 443 (2003)
S. Vajda, M.G. White, ACS Catal. 5, 7152 (2015)
P. Milani, M. Sowwan, Cluster Beam Deposition of Functional Nanomaterials and Devices, in Frontiers of Nanoscience (Elsevier, 2020), vol. 15
D.N. Poenaru, R.A. Gherghescu, A.V. Solov’yov, W. Greiner, Europhys. Lett. 79, 63001 (2007)
D.N. Poenaru, R.A. Gherghescu, I.H. Plonski, A.V. Solov’yov, W. Greiner, Eur. Phys. J. D 47, 379 (2008)
V.V. Semenikhina, A.G. Lyalin, A.V. Solov’yov, W. Greiner, J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 106, 678 (2008)
A.V. Prydatko, L.A. Belyaeva, L. Jiang, L.M.C. Lima, G.F. Schneider, Nat. Commun. 9, 4185 (2018)
M. Lundgren, N.L. Allan, T. Cosgrove, N. George, Languir 18, 10462 (2002)
F. Song, L. Ma, J. Fan, Q. Chen, G. Lei, B.Q. Li, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 20, 11987 (2018)
P.V. Kashtanov, R. Hippler, B.M. Smirnov, S.R. Bhattacharyya, J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 110, 521 (2010)
Z. Chen, J.B. Lee, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11, 35488 (2019)
M. Couillard, S. Pratontep, R.E. Palmer, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 2595 (2003)
I.A. Solov’yov, A.V. Yakubovich, P.V. Nikolaev, I. Volkovets, A.V. Solov’yov, J. Comput. Chem. 33, 2412 (2012)
G.B. Sushko, I.A. Solov’yov, A.V. Solov’yov, J. Mol. Graphics Modell. 88, 247 (2019)
I.A. Solov’yov, G.B. Sushko, A.V. Solov’yov, MBN Explorer Users’ Guide, ver. 3.0 (MesoBioNano Science Publishing, Frankfurt am Main, 2017)
R.P. Gupta, Phys. Rev. B 23, 6265 (1981)
F. Cleri, V. Rosato, Phys. Rev. B 48, 22 (1993)
T. Ellaby, J. Aarons, A. Varambhia, L. Jones, P. Nellist, D. Ozkaya, M. Sarwar, D. Thompsett, C.-K. Skylaris, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 30, 155301 (2018)
D.W. Brenner, Phys. Rev. B 42, 9458 (1990)
J. Geng, I.A. Solov’yov, W. Zhou, A.V. Solov’yov, B.F.G. Johnson, J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 6390 (2009)
J.H. Ryu, H.Y. Kim, D.H. Kim, D.H. Seo, H.M. Lee, J. Phys. Chem. C 114, 2022 (2010)
M. Neek-Amal, R. Asgari, M.R. Rahimi Tabar, Nanotechnology 20, 135602 (2009)
Ş. Erkoç, Annu. Rev. Comput. Phys. IX, 1 (2001)
A.V. Verkhovtsev, S. Schramm, A.V. Solov’yov, Eur. Phys. J. D 68, 246 (2014)
A.Y. Galashev, K.P. Katin, M.M. Maslov, Phys. Lett. A 383, 252 (2019)
P.V.C. Medeiros, G.K. Gueorguiev, S. Stafström, Phys. Rev. B 85, 205423 (2012)
J. Björk, S. Stafström, F. Hanke, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 14884 (2011)
O.I. Obolensky, V.V. Semenikhina, A.V. Solov’yov, W. Greiner, Int. J. Quantum Chem 107, 1335 (2007)
S. Grimme, WIREs Comput. Molec. Sci. 1, 211 (2011)
M. Amft, S. Lebègue, O. Eriksson, N.V. Skorodumova, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 23, 395001 (2011)
J.-P. Jalkanen, M. Halonen, D. Fernández-Torre, K. Laasonen, L. Halonen, J. Phys. Chem. A 111, 12317 (2007)
M.J. Frisch, et al., Gaussian 09, Revision D.01 (Gaussian, Inc., Wallingford CT, 2013)
L. Chen, J. Luo, Q. Wang, L. Xiong, H. Gong, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 32, 145001 (2020)
A.L. Hsu, R.J. Koch, M.T. Ong, W. Fang, M. Hofmann, K.K. Kim, T. Seyller, M.S. Dresselhaus, E.J. Reed, J. Kong, T. Palacios, ACS Nano 8, 7704 (2014)
I. Katakuse, T. Ichihara, Y. Fujita, T. Matsuo, T. Sakurai, H. Matsuda, Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Processes 67, 229 (1985)
H. Häkkinen, Adv. Phys. X 1, 467 (2016)
P.-G. Reinhard, E. Suraud, Introduction to Cluster Dynamics (Wiley-VCH Verlag, Weinheim, 2004)
A. Awasthi, S.C. Hendy, P. Zoontjens, S.A. Brown, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 186103 (2006)
N. Giovambattista, P.G. Debenedetti, P.J. Rossky, J. Phys. Chem. B 111, 9581 (2007)
J. Škvára, J. Škvor, I. Nezbeda, Molec. Simul. 44, 190 (2018)
N. Lidgi-Guigui, P. Mulheran, R.E. Palmer, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 123107 (2008)
F. Claeyssens, S. Pratontep, C. Xirouchaki, R.E. Palmer, Nanotechnology 17, 805 (2006)
G. Giovannetti, P.A. Khomyakov, G. Brocks, V.M. Karpan, J. van den Brink, P.J. Kelly, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 026803 (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Contribution to the Topical Issue “Atomic Cluster Collisions (2019)”, edited by Alexey Verkhovtsev, Pablo de Vera, Nigel J. Mason, Andrey V. Solov’yov.
Publisher's Note
The EPJ Publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
About this article
Cite this article
Verkhovtsev, A.V., Erofeev, Y. & Solov’yov, A.V. Soft landing of metal clusters on graphite: a molecular dynamics study. Eur. Phys. J. D 74, 205 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2020-10258-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2020-10258-5