Frank–Van der Merwe growth (or FM growth) is one of the three primary modes by which
thin film
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer ( monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ...
s grow
epitaxially at a crystal surface or interface. It is also known as 'layer-by-layer growth'. It is considered an ideal growth model, requiring perfect lattice matching between the substrate and the layer growing on to it, and it is usually limited to homoepitaxy.
For FM growth to occur, the atoms that are to be deposited should be more attracted to the substrate than to each other, which is in contrast to the
layer-plus-island growth model.
FM growth is the preferred growth model for producing smooth films.
It was first described by South African physicist
Jan van der Merwe and British physicist
Frederick Charles Frank in a series of four papers based on Van der Merwe's PhD research between 1947 and 1949.
See also
*
Epitaxy
Epitaxy refers to a type of crystal growth or material deposition in which new crystalline layers are formed with one or more well-defined orientations with respect to the crystalline seed layer. The deposited crystalline film is called an epit ...
*
Thin films
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer ( monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ...
*
Molecular-beam epitaxy
References
Thin films
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