What is it about?
Thermal gradients (differences in temperature) are known to influence how atoms move, which affects the shape of materials. In this study, we developed a mathematical model to describe how small structures, like single-atom deep holes, move across a surface due to a thermal gradient. This process is called thermomigration. We have also experimentally measured the movement of these single-atom deep holes on a silicon surface. By studying how fast they move, we used our model to calculate some important physical properties of the silicon surface.
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Why is it important?
The mathematical expression that we have developed to describe thermomigration takes into consideration the complexity of the phenomenon, but can be easily simplified to describe the velocity of surface nanostructures moving because of a thermal gradient. Furthermore our real-time measurements of displacement of surface nanostructures are difficult to perform.
Perspectives
Finding the mathematical expression developed in this article was an intellectual pleasure, and collaborating with theorists was particularly enriching.
Stefano Curiotto
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Surface thermomigration of 2D voids, Applied Physics Letters, September 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0228961.
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