Defects analysis of Al/Si artificial nanocluster with moiré fringes

In this paper, it is demonstrated the defects play a very important role in determining the quality of artificial nanoclusters grown. The surface strain (stress) distribution around defects in Al artificial nanocluster is analyzed by Moiré fringes pattern. The moiré fringes generated by scanning lines in monitor and nanocluster array can be used as a “magnifier” to study surface imperfections with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). As moiré fringes' exist in many ordered nanostructures and adsorbate systems, the method is expected to have wide applications.