Features of island nanostructures formed by melting Sn, Bi and Sn-Bi thin films on C substrates

► Melting of Sn, Bi and eutectic Sn-Bi solid films 2-70 nm thick on a-C substrates. ► Morphology of molten films is determined by the formation of initial condensates. ► Non-uniform size dependence of the coverage after film melting. ► Spontaneous formation of island structures possessing a unimodal size distribution.