Abstract
Prior to the advent of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), most experimental studies measured average properties such as overall chemical composition and long-range periodic structure using techniques such as electron- and photon-based spectroscopies and diffraction. This article reviews selected contributions that STM has made in the understanding of metal-on-metal epitaxy. This is presented not from a historical perspective but rather by highlighting key scientific issues that STM has and will continue to impact. The paper is divided into three topic areas: nucleation, structure, and composition. This is done only for organizational purposes and not to imply that they can be viewed distinctly. There exist fundamental interactions between all of these phenomena that lead to the rich behavior in metal films highlighted throughout the article. One of the great contributions of STM has been precisely to discover these links. 106 refs.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
