Twin-assisted growth of nominally stable substrates underneath dewetted Au nanoparticles

• The twin-assisted growth mechanism is proposed for the abnormal regrowth of substrate underneath Au nanoparticles.
• The substrate regrowth is related to the steps and ledges that are present at the Au–MgAl2O4 interfacial monolayers.
• Interfacial steps are detected at defects such as the intersecting points of twin planes at the interface.

By applying a simple and inexpensive thermal treatment, we synthesized supported gold-oxide nanostructures, which have potential applications to plasmonic devices and biosensors. The regrowth of nominally stable substrates under gold nanoparticles is associated with the appearance of preferential orientations of dewetted nanoparticles and the formation of atomically sharp interfacial monolayers. Steps present at the interfacial monolayer usually occur at defects including the intersection points of twin planes at the interface. They were related to the nucleation and immigration of the interfacial monolayers, prompting the substrate regrowth. Accordingly, we proposed the twin-assisted growth mechanism, which provides insight on the synthesis of gold-oxide nanostructures.

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