The evolution of Cu nanoclusters in amorphous films, formed via the co-sputtering of Cu and SiO2, was investigated theoretically. The bulk Cu diffusion during annealing after fabrication was described by a set of kinetic equations, and the cluster-size distribution function was deduced. Reasonable agreement between theory and experiment was found, and values of the bulk Cu migration activation energy were estimated. The molecular dynamics method was used to investigate cluster formation at various Cu contents. Both methods gave reasonable agreement for short-term diffusion.

Copper Cluster Formation and Evolution in Amorphous Materials Grown by Co-Sputtering of Copper with SiO2. D.V.Kulikov, Y.V.Trushin, S.A.Gurevich, V.A.Zabelin: Proceedings of the SPIE, 2000, 4064, 288-94