Self-assembly of paired nanoribbons.

Self-assembly of surface phase domains is a promising route to fabricate stable nanometer-scale structures. This Letter reports a novel labyrinth structure of orthogonal nanoscale ribbons of Cu4Pb3 ordered-alloy on Cu(100) formed by electrochemical deposition. The labyrinth develops as loops of Cu4Pb3 ribbons elongate as closely spaced paired stripes.

Elastic interaction of surface steps: effect of atomic-scale roughness.

Elastic interactions of atomic steps can greatly impact surface morphology. Recent atomistic calculations and experimental observations find the standard dipole model of steps is valid only for very large step separations. In this Letter, a new model is presented that displays remarkable agreement with atomistic predictions for step separations larger than just a few step heights.

Mesoscopic analysis of structure and strength of dislocation junctions in fcc metals.

We develop a finite-element-based nodal dislocation dynamics model to simulate the structure and strength of dislocation junctions in fcc crystals. The model is based on anisotropic elasticity theory supplemented by the explicit inclusion of the separation of perfect dislocations into partial dislocations bounding a stacking fault. We demonstrate that the model reproduces in precise detail the structure of the Lomer-Cottrell lock already obtained from atomistic simulations.