Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 31: Poster Session II

DS 31.20: Poster

Thursday, March 15, 2018, 11:15–13:15, Poster F

Melting and premelting behaviour of epitaxial thin films — •Constantin Wansorra and Wolfgang Donner — TU Darmstadt, Materials Science, Structure Research, Darmstadt, Germany

Despite the fact that melting of materials has been studied for more than a century [1], the melting behaviour of thin films is still topic of research [2]. Concerning bulk, it is now known that melting precursors [3] as the surface or grain boundaries are the reason for the absence of superheated solids. In thin films, the surface has a much higher impact on the properties of the material [4]. Therefore, research of their melting will produce a better understanding of high temperature stability and failure processes of the films.

We have prepared epitaxial films of low melting temperature metals on various substrates by Molecular Beam Epitaxy and studied structural changes near the melting temperature by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. We report on the changes in surface and interface roughness and the dewetting behaviour of the films. Furthermore, a technique of analysing the melting behaviour with x-ray diffraction is presented.

[1] Dash, Reviews of Modern Physics 71 (1999): 1737.

[2] Kahn, et al., Springer Nature 46 (2015): 3932.

[3] Rühm, et al., Physical Review B 68 (2003): 224110.

[4] Chen, et al., Elsevier BV 68 (2015): 97.