Eur. Phys. J. D 50, 279-284 (2008)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2008-00228-6

Preparation and analysis of a two-components breath figure at the nanoscale

¹ Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, UMR CNRS N° 6622, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
² Wolfson Applied Materials Research Center, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel
³ Department of Physical Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel

Corresponding author: ^a kofman@unice.fr

Received: 11 June 2008
Revised: 10 September 2008
Published online: 5 December 2008

Abstract

Solid/liquid two-components Ga–Pb structures in isolated nanometer sized particles have been produced and studied by electron microscopy. Production is based on the breath figure technique and we investigate the way the two components are distributed. We clearly identify two growth regimes associated with the two different ways a Pb atom incorporates into a Ga nanodrop. Using TEM and SEM, the shape and microstructure of the nanoparticles are studied and the results obtained are in good agreement with the proposed model. The experimental technique used appears to be appropriate to produce Pb nanocrystals in liquid Ga nano-containers.