Hi,
We grow thin film material A on top the substrate with other material B. In some situations, grown material is the same as the material of the substrate. Briefly, for epitaxial growth , they are 'hetero-epitaxial' and 'homo-epitaxial' growth respectively.
So, how can I measure (experimentally) or calculate (theoretically) the interface energy of the A-B interface?
Regards,
Anjan
There's a multitude of methods to determine interface binding energies although not all of them can be applied for every system, especially if the bond between film and substrate is extremely rigid:
-the most popular, recently, is probably the AFM shearing method. In this method the upper layer is picked up by an AFM tip and moved around; the force required to do so can be recalculated to your energy by modelling (see e.g. W. Wang, S. Dai, X. Li, J. Yang, D. J. Srolovitz, und Q. Zheng, Nature Comm. 6, 7853 (2015).), but be careful: the modelling is rather sensitive.
-if your film is sublimeable, you can try temperature programmed desorption spectroscopy (see A. de Jong und J. Niemantsverdriet, Surf. Sci. 233, 355 (1990). for a review of procedures)
-there's the whole field of microcalorimetry but I have no expertise in that field
-if there is an equilibrium of adsorption and desorption, you can of course measure the adsorption isotherm and get binding energies from that (see e.g. M. Desjonqueres und D. Spanjaard, Concepts in Surface Physics, 2. Ed. (Springer,
Berlin/Heidelberg, 1998).)
For the calculation of interface energies I would recommend the VASP program package. However, VASP is not straightforward and if you want to go there I strongly recommend you find a proper theoretician to do the calculations for you.
There's a multitude of methods to determine interface binding energies although not all of them can be applied for every system, especially if the bond between film and substrate is extremely rigid:
-the most popular, recently, is probably the AFM shearing method. In this method the upper layer is picked up by an AFM tip and moved around; the force required to do so can be recalculated to your energy by modelling (see e.g. W. Wang, S. Dai, X. Li, J. Yang, D. J. Srolovitz, und Q. Zheng, Nature Comm. 6, 7853 (2015).), but be careful: the modelling is rather sensitive.
-if your film is sublimeable, you can try temperature programmed desorption spectroscopy (see A. de Jong und J. Niemantsverdriet, Surf. Sci. 233, 355 (1990). for a review of procedures)
-there's the whole field of microcalorimetry but I have no expertise in that field
-if there is an equilibrium of adsorption and desorption, you can of course measure the adsorption isotherm and get binding energies from that (see e.g. M. Desjonqueres und D. Spanjaard, Concepts in Surface Physics, 2. Ed. (Springer,
Berlin/Heidelberg, 1998).)
For the calculation of interface energies I would recommend the VASP program package. However, VASP is not straightforward and if you want to go there I strongly recommend you find a proper theoretician to do the calculations for you.
Check the following reference Please.. it might's assist you in your question …
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/113101003/downloads/partII/module2.pdf
Dear Anjan Bhukta,
Interfacial energy we always mean the interfacial free energy. Interfacial free energy is the excess free energy associated with an interface. This excess free energy is the energy cost associated with the introduction of that interface.
Consider two condensed phases (P,Q) and a planar interface between P and Q.
The specific surface energy of the interface is γ(PQ)
The specific surface energy of the phase A is γ(P)
The specific surface energy of the phase B is γ(Q)
The specific energy recovered when the two surface come in contact is β(AB).
Then, the Dupre formula says that:
γ(PQ) = γ(P) + γ(Q) - β(PQ)
I hope I have answered your question.
With Best Wishes,
Samir G. Pandya
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