Pattern formation induced during strained growth Kenneth R. Elder, Oakland University, DMR When a material solidifies on the surface of another material with similar crystalline structure, the solidifying material will often attempt to grow coherently with the substrate. Small difference in the structures can however lead to strain induced patterns that may be detrimental or beneficial depending on the technological application. The PI and collaborators have recently developed computational efficient methods for studying a wide variety of such phenomena. The three figures on the left are simulations of GeSi quantum dot formation on Si nano- ribbons, a processes that has the potential of generating a spatial modulated band gap that would have many applications in the electronic device industry. The three figures on the right show a simulation of the ordering of a thin films of copper on a ruthenium substrate. Such bimetallic surfaces are commonly used to enhance chemical reactions rates which are strongly influenced by the specific spatial patterns the copper layers form. Formation of quantum dots on a nano-ribbon Patterning of Cu layers on Ru(0001) substrate time = t 1 t 2 > t 1 t 3 > t 2 one mono-layer Si GeSi two mono-layers four mono-layers (side view)(top view)

Collaborators on award # Top row: Z-F Huang (Wayne State U), N Provatas, J.J. Hoyt (McMaster U, Canada), E. Granato (INPE,Brazil); Middle row: T Ala-Nisillä, G. Rossi, C. Achim, A. Jaatinen (Aalto U., Finland): Bottom row: S. Mkhonta (U. Swaziland, Swaziland), K. Thornton (U. Michigan), S-C Ying (Brown), M. Grant (McGill, Canada) Missing: D-H Yeon (U. of Michigan), J.A.P. Ramos (INPI, Brazil), D. Dobbins, M. Nazrulla (Oakland U). The research conducted under this award has had a broad impact in many areas including, Publications in refereed journals 2010: three articles in the Physical Review E, one article in the Physical Review B, two articles in the Philosophical Magazine, one in the Journal of Condensed Matter Physics, and one in the European Journal of Physics E. International collaborations and visits, Aalto U., Espoo, Finland, Aug. / Feb Heinrich-Heine U. of Düsseldorf, Germany, Aug McMaster U., Hamilton, Canada, July 2010 Hong-Kong Polytechnical U. Hong Kong, June Institute of Materials Physics in Space, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Cologne Germany, Sept 2009 Invited lectures at international conferences 2010 International Symposium on Multi-scale Modeling and Simulation of Materials, Shengyang China, July PTM 2010, Solid-Solid Phase Transformations in Inorganic Materials, Avignon France, June CECAM Conference on Classical Density Functional Theory in Soft and Hard Matter, Lausanne, Switzerland, Oct Bridging the Gap Workship, McMaster U, Hamilton, Canada, Oct nd Symposium on Phase-Field Modeling in Materials Science, Aachen Germany, Aug Pattern formation induced during strained growth Kenneth R. Elder, Oakland University, DMR