The self-organized growth of Co nanoparticles was achieved at room temperature on an inhomogeneously strained Ag(001) surface arising from an underlying square misfit dislocation network of 10nm periodicity buried at the interface between a 5nm-thick Ag film and a MgO(001) substrate. This was revealed by in situ grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering. Simulations of the data performed in the distorted wave Born approximation framework demonstrated that the Co clusters grow above the dislocation crossing lines. This was confirmed by molecular dynamic simulations indicating preferential Co adsorption on tensile sites.

Self-Organized Growth of Nanoparticles on a Surface Patterned by a Buried Dislocation Network. F.Leroy, G.Renaud, A.Letoublon, R.Lazzari, C.Mottet, J.Goniakowski: Physical Review Letters, 2005, 95[18], 185501 (3pp)