Deposition and surface dynamic of metals studied by the embedded-atom molecular dynamics method

The embedded atom method (EAM) was used to simulate the dynamics of deposition of supported metal clusters on fee transition metals and the dynamic behavior of surfaces. The formation of metal clusters was observed before deposition and the geometries, stabilities and dynamics of a series of metal clusters were discussed as obtained by EAM and compared with first-principle calculations. The calculations indicate that the structure of a cluster in the vapor phase is governed by its zero kelvin stability. We find that if the cluster forms in the vapor phase, it is difficult to get epitaxial growth since the metal cohesive energy is large and the cluster can not be broken by thermal motions. The effect of impurities on the deposition is also discussed. The anharmonicity, roughening and reconstruction of surface were also investigated. Three-body interactions were found to be important to understand these phenomena.