Related papers: Epitaxial growth in dislocation-free strained allo…
A continuum dynamical model is developed to determine the morphological and compositional instabilities on the free surface of heteroepitaxial alloy films in the absence of growth. We use linear stability analysis to study the early…
We investigate the stress-driven morphological instability of epitaxially growing multilayer films, which are coherent and dislocation-free. We construct a direct elastic analysis, from which we determine the elastic state of the system…
Morphological properties of strained epitaxial films are examined through a mesoscopic approach developed to incorporate both the film crystalline structure and standard continuum theory. Film surface profiles and properties, such as…
The thermodynamic stability of germanium tin $\mathrm{Ge_{1-x}Sn_x}$ alloys is investigated across the composition range $0 \le x \le 1$ by applying density functional theory (DFT) together with the cluster expansion formalism (CE). It is…
A strained epitaxial film deposited on a deformable substrate undergoes a morphological instability relaxing the elastic energy by surface diffusion. The nonlinear and nonlocal dynamical equations of such films with wetting interactions are…
We discuss instabilities of fluid films of nanoscale thickness, with a particular focus on films where the destabilising mechanism allows for linear instability, metastability, and absolute stability. Our study is motivated by nematic…
It is shown how the combination of atomic deposition and nonlinear diffusion may lead, below a critical temperature, to the growth of nonuniform layers on a substrate. The dynamics of such a system is of the Cahn-Hilliard type, supplemented…
We showed that a wetting layer in epitaxially strained thin films which decreases with increasing lattice mismatch strain arises due to the variation of nonlinear elastic free energy with film thickness. We calculated how and at what…
Ion irradiation during film growth has a strong impact on structural properties. Linear stability analysis is employed to study surface instabilities during ion-assisted growth of binary alloys. An interplay between curvature-dependent…
A variational model for epitaxially strained films accounting for the presence of dislocations is considered. Existence, regularity and some qualitative properties of solutions are addressed.
A large electric field is typically present in anodic or passive oxide films. Stresses induced by such a large electric field are critical in understanding the breakdown mechanism of thin oxide films and improving their corrosion…
The subtle balance of electronic correlations, crystal field splitting and spin--orbit coupling in layered Ir$^{4+}$ oxides can give rise to novel electronic and magnetic phases. Experimental progress in this field relies on the synthesis…
The nucleation mechanisms during solution deposition of organic semiconductor thin films determine the grain morphology and may influence the crystalline packing in some cases. Here, in-situ optical spectromicroscopy in reflection mode is…
We examine the role of an imposed epitaxial strain e in enhancing or depressing the spinodal instability of an alloy thin film. Since the alloy film starts with an imposed strain, phase separation offers a mechanism to relieve it, but only…
It is demonstrated here that growth stress has a substantial effect on the dielectric constant of zirconia thin films. The correct combination of parameters - phase, texture and stress - is shown to yield films with high dielectric constant…
Growth-induced instabilities are ubiquitous in biological systems and lead to diverse morphologies in the form of wrinkling, folding, and creasing. The current work focusses on the mechanics behind growth-induced wrinkling instabilities in…
Exploring new topological materials with large topological nontrivial bandgaps and simple composition is attractive for both theoretical investigation and experimental realization. Recently alpha tin ({\alpha}-Sn) has been predicted to be…
A continuum model for growth of solids is developed, considering adatom deposition, surface diffusion, and configuration dependent incorporation rate. For amorphous solids it is related to surface energy densities. The high adatom density…
In the present contribution we review basic mathematical results for three physical systems involving self-organising solid or liquid films at solid surfaces. The films may undergo a structuring process by dewetting,…
The suitability of a particular material for use in magnetic devices is determined by the process of magnetization reversal/relaxation, which in turn depends on the magnetic anisotropy. Therefore, designing new ways to control magnetic…