From the adhesion of atomic clusters to the fabrication of nanodevices

An experimental study of Bi, Sb, and Cu clusters incident at velocities ≳50m∕s on SiO2, Si3N4, polymethylmethacrylate, and photoresist surfaces shows that the clusters adhere much more strongly to SiO2 and Si3N4 than to the polymer materials. The differences in adhesion properties allow assembly of a range of nanowire-based electronic devices from cluster building blocks using lithographically patterned polymer layers. Clusters adhere to the substrate but not to the surface of the polymer template, eliminating parasitic conduction. Molecular dynamics simulations show that differing cluster-surface interactions affect adhesion most strongly when high incident velocities cause significant plastic deformation of the clusters.